Loud Legends
by Rakanadyo
Summary: In a family that has 11 kids, not a day goes by when something exciting doesn't happen. But every now and then, something major will occur, something that will have a huge impact in the lives of this unique group. These are the stories of the Loud House.
1. Lori: Part 1

**Hey guys, how's it going? I'm Rakanadyo (I know it's weird, but it goes back to my childhood, and I've grown attached to it). A while back I wrote my first fanfic, which was also the first writing I've ever really submitted to public view. I was cautiously optimistic about what you guys would think, but the amount of positive feedback I got was still surprising. I get embarrassed when I'm praised, so I was blushing like a schoolgirl all the way through those reviews. I'm glad you guys liked my first story!**

 **Anyway, after that, I started to think about what to do next. I had a couple different ideas, but I couldn't really narrow them down to choose what to do. Ultimately, I've decided to do an episodic deal not unlike the show itself. There won't really be an overarching plotline, but rather it'll be composed of several different stories that all together form my "fanon", as it were.**

 **Primarily, these episodes will focus on one character at a time. Mostly it will be Lincoln's sisters, but I'll try to do at least one for Lincoln himself, and maybe some others. (Ronnie Anne is one of my favorites, so I definitely want a story for her.) These will be mostly realistic in terms of the setting, so nothing drastic or dark, but I hope to look into some more mature themes we wouldn't expect from the show itself.**

 **Sorry for talking so much, but I like to be descriptive, even if just for my own benefit. For most chapters, unless I got something I want to say, I'll just have the episode's name up top. I might yap a bit after the story at the bottom, though. Anyway, time for me to shut up and let Chapter 1 begin. Hope you like it!**

 ** _P.S.:_ There's a lot of cool LH fanfiction, and reading all the different stories is what got me to get to work on my own. So to show my love, every chapter/episode I'll try to sneak a reference to one in. Done with full respect to the author and their work, of course. I'll try to be clever with it, so see if you notice them. :)**

 ** _P.P.S.:_ Obligatory message that I don't own Loud House or it's characters, those all belong to Chris Savino and Nickelodeon. Full respect to them.**

* * *

 _ **Lori: The Making of Love**_

* * *

The sun was rising on a beautiful spring morning in Royal Woods, Michigan. Flowers are blooming and birds are singing. On days like these, kids like you... should be playing outside!

But this wasn't just any day. Today was very important to the 13 people living inside the Loud residence. 18 years ago today, a young, newly-married couple went to the hospital and met the first addition to their family. They had no idea that they'd eventually end up being the maternity ward's favorite regulars.

In the room shared by the two oldest girls, Lori slowly began to open her eyes, and saw an orange and white blur before her bed. As she rubbed her eyes and gained focus, she saw the face of her younger brother in front of her, with a smile on his face.

"Lori, you're awake!" the boy said happily.

Lori was about to angrily shout at him, knowing he broke one of the most sacred rules she holds over her siblings by entering her room, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of 11 other faces shooting up from the bed.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORI!" they shouted at maximum volume, followed by the sound of an electric guitar blaring the tune of a birthday song. Everyone immediately cringed and held their ears shut, as Rita, the matron of the home, turned towards her 3rd-oldest child.

"Luna, turn that thing down! You're going to wake up Lily and give us all tinnitus!" she shouted, barely audible over the guitar.

"What was that mom, I can't hear you! I'm too busy rockin' out for my big sis!" she said, before immediately going back to her song. "THE WHOLE CLAN GATHERS ROUND' AND GIFTS AND LAUGHTER DO ABOUND! THEN WE LET OUT A JOYFUL SOU-" she continued before her amplifier was unplugged.

"Ok, ok, enough of all that!" the Loud patron, Lynn Sr. said. "We'll all celebrate in a few minutes downstairs, but for now, could you guys let us talk to the birthday girl alone?

After a bit of mumbling and a few hugs for Lori from her siblings, most of the crowd dispersed and left the room, until all that remained were the parents and Lori, now fully awake thanks to her rock-loving sister.

"So, how does it feel to be an adult, Lori?" Rita said with a smile as she sat on the bedside with her husband.

"I literally feel the same as usual, Mom." Lori said with a smile. That was the truth, too. She didn't really feel any different than she did when she was 17 yesterday.

"Yeah, I guess there isn't really much different. Anyway, we were wondering if you had any plans today? Lincoln got everyone together and organized a party, but we didn't want to make him put all that work into a party if you didn't want it."

"A birthday party? I haven't had one of those since I was Lucy's age." she said as she rolled her eyes. "Those are literally for kids."

"We figured you might feel this way." Lynn Sr. said "We'll tell the kids to settle down with it all then."

"No, wait..." Lori said as they got up. "I mean, I don't really have anything else to do today, so I don't mind a party."

Her parents smiled and nodded as they left the room. Lori got up out of bed and began looking through her closet, trying to pick which blue tank top she wanted to wear today.

Lori kind of lied when she said parties were for kids. She still enjoyed them, but tried to force herself to stop because she wanted to seem more mature. She was the oldest Loud child, and she felt it was her job to be the adult among them. But hearing about what Lincoln went through to put a party together warmed her a bit more to the idea. As rough as she was on him, she loved him dearly. And although the idea of playing favorites was abhorrent to Lori, it's hard to deny that Linc would probably be up at the top with Leni if she did do it. Lincoln would probably be the first thought in most of the Loud girls' minds if somebody tried to make them pick a favorite sibling.

After getting dressed and preparing her hair and make-up for the day, Lori headed downstairs. Looking around, she saw some of her sisters running around setting up cheesy decorations. She couldn't help but smile as she made her way to the kitchen, where she saw Lincoln himself standing at the stove, wearing a cartoonishly large chef's hat and an apron.

"Oh, Lori, you're up already! I'll have your breakfast done in a bit!" he said to her, still showing his trademark buck-toothed smile.

"What are you making" Lori asked, peeking over his shoulder. "Blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup, with chocolate-covered blueberries on the side." Lincoln said, pointing to the large basket of them on the counter. Lori absolutely LOVED blueberries, and just about anything they were in. She had no idea why, but she was just as obsessed with them as she was with chocolate.

"Oh. My. God." she said with surprise. "You are literally the best brother in the whole world!" she reached forward and hugged him. Unfortunately, she chose to pull him to her right as he was flipping the pancake which ended up on her face.

After cleaning up and eating her birthday breakfast, Lori sat down at the couch to watch some TV. As she did, she pulled out her phone and went to her contacts. Finding the one labeled "BOBBY BOO-BOO BEAR 3 3 3", she opened the message menu and started texting.

 **Lori:** u awake?

 **Bobby:** yeah

happy birthday babe :)

 **Lori:** aww, thx 3

u work today?

 **Bobby:** nope. called off

 **Lori:** good

my dorky brother is throwing me a party

can u make it?

 **Bobby:** dunno, maybe

go check the door babe

Just as that message was sent, the doorbell rang. Lori leaped up, nearly tripping over Lana as she ran to the door and opened it, seeing the face of Bobby with his goofy grin that she adored.

"BOBBY BOO-BOO BEAR!" she squealed as she pounced him, grabbing him into a hug. "Linc already told me about the party. Happy birthday, babe!" he said as he hugged her back. Behind them, Bobby's little sister (and Lincoln's sorta-kinda girlfriend) Ronnie Anne made a gagging sound as she walked around them and into the house.

Later that day

Over time, a few people came over to the house. Pop-Pop was able to get Nurse Ratchet to extend his curfew to spend the day at the party. (she became a bit more lenient after the shenanigans he and Lincoln caused.) Lincoln's friend Clyde and his parents came over, but unfortunately Clyde wound up directly at the table featuring a display of pictures of Lori, some of which included her in a bikini. One messy nosebleed later, Clyde had to go home to rest. A few of Lori and Leni's friends from high school came over, fortunately without word of the party reaching that bitch Carol Pingrey. Lincoln was nervous about spending time with Ronnie Anne around his sisters, who tended to get excited when they saw the couple, but since today was about Lori, they were usually left alone to hang out together and with Lori or Bobby.

Speaking of Bobby, Lori spent nearly all of her time with him, only leaving his side to greet guests and talk to relatives. Bobby hadn't brought her a present (he was terrible at picking them out, anyway), but said he wanted to talk to her about something later on.

"Ok, everyone, time for the cake!" Rita shouted as she turned off the lights. Everybody gathered into the kitchen, where a large cake with light-blue frosting illuminated the area with 18 candles.

"Let's all sing for the birthday girl!" Lynn Sr. said, before turning to his right. "At a _reasonable_ volume!"

"Aww man." a forlorn Luna sighed as she set aside her full-volume electric guitar and instead began strumming an acoustic to the tune of the song.

 _Happy Birthday to you._

 _Happy Birthday to you._

 _Happy Birthday, dear Lori._

 _Happy Birthday to you!_

As the party applauded her, Lori bent over the cake and blew out the candles, impressively getting all of them at once... before they appeared to relight themselves. Raising an eyebrow, Lori blew again, and once more the extinguished candles reignited.

"Luan..." she said with a small smile.

"What's the matter, sis? My special candles too _hot_ for ya? Hahaha!" Luan giggled at her own pun as everybody else groaned. After blowing on them one more time, Lori permanently put the candles out. Lynn Sr. came back with a knife and began to cut the cake.

"Of course, the birthday girl gets first go at it. What piece do you want, honey?"

"You literally already know I want a corner piece, Dad." she said happily. After all, corner pieces always have a ton of frosting. Who wouldn't go for that?

After everybody got their cake and some ice cream, the time came for Lori to open her presents. Quite the haul this year. Luna got her tickets to the Boyz Will Be Boyz concert. Leni made her a new tank top with a beautiful floral pattern... that kind of reminded her of mom's tablecloth that had gone missing yesterday. Lucy read a poem she wrote about her oldest sister, that was SLIGHTLY less morbid than her usual work. Lincoln was upset that he didn't have anything to give, as he had spent all of his money on the party.

"Don't sweat it, Linc. You're the coolest brother in the whole world, and that's literally all I need." she said as she hugged him, before pulling all of her sisters in for a group hug. "And you're the best sisters ever, too!"

"One more present, honey." the Loud parents said almost in perfect unison. "This took a LOT of work, especially on Lisa's end with the bills, but we managed to hold on to some money from our tax returns, and get you this."

As Lynn Sr. opened the curtains, a bright light came into the room. Lori mumbled as she struggled to see what was out there, but the moment she did, she became speechless.

"Y-you guys... You got me... A CAR!?"

Lori squealed as she raced out the front door, with siblings, parents, and party guests following right behind. Sitting in the parking behind Vanzilla was a smaller blue car. Not brand new, but new and shiny enough to cause a blinding glare into the windows of the house.

"We figured that our first fully grown adult needed something to drive besides our run-down van. Especially once college and careers come into the picture."

Lori barely overheard while she was running around and fawning over her new car, but she stopped and ran over to hug her parents.

"I love you guys so much!"

"We love you too." they said happily as they hugged her back. "Now, why don't you take her for a spin? We'll keep the party entertained while you do." Lynn Sr. said as he handed her the keys.

As Lori prepared to get in, Bobby ran up to her. "Hey, babe! Can I tag along?"

"Of course, Boo-Boo Bear! Hop in!" she said as she started up the car, taking a moment to put on her seat belt and get herself acquainted with the hardware before putting the car in reverse and pulling out of the driveway.

Lori drove through town, enjoying the feel of driving a vehicle that wasn't a 53 year old half-dead van. She had decided to stop by Burpin' Burger for a drink, since she hadn't had one at the party, and was surprised to see her friend Laney working at the drive-thru. After chatting with her and holding up the line for 10 minutes, she quickly drove off to head back home.

Bobby had been sitting there the whole time, happy to be with his "babe", but acting fidgety. Finally, he spoke up. "Hey, babe. About what I wanted to talk to you about..."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that! What is it, Bobby?"

Bobby shuffled a bit. "Well, babe. It's been almost a year since we started going out, and we're both 18 now... I couldn't think of a gift to get you, but I was wondering if maybe..."

Lori glanced over as he seemed to pause. "Maybe... what, Boo-Boo Bear?"

"Maybe... you'd want to take the next step? In our relationship, I mean..."

"The next step?"

"Yeah... Ba-I mean, Lori... I was wondering if maybe we should... have sex?"

As soon as that word came out of his mouth, Lori did a spit-take all over the windshield that Luan would be proud of. That is, until she had to slam the brakes and jerk the car to a complete stop.

"H-have what!?"

 _-End of part 1._

* * *

 **Well, there's the first half of our two-parter "pilot". What do you guys think? Will Lori say yes to this proposition? What would her siblings think? What's with her obsession with blueberries? Honestly I don't know about the last one, I just like blueberries myself. But anyhow, I've been busy these past couple days, so I'll get all of that done so I can get part 2 done ASAP. Hope to see you then!**


	2. Lori: Part 2

_**Lori: The Making of Love**_

part 2

* * *

"H-have what!?"

Lori was completely thrown off guard by what her boyfriend had just said. As hard as it is to believe in this day and age, sex was one of the last things in her mind when it came to her relationship with Bobby. Well, she had the same thoughts and occasional desires as most other teenage girls, and Bobby was likely the same way, but they had both silently agreed early in their relationship to keep things slow with that subject. They didn't want to risk their blossoming romance by going that far early on. And while they were both 17, both the Loud and Santiago parents would probably freak if they ever found out, and with 11 nosy siblings between them, someone WOULD find out.

"W-well, babe..." Bobby began, looking as nervous as she was. "I know we were both worried about, you know, our relationship and the fact that were were still underaged. But now that we're both 18 and we've been going out for about a year, I think, if you wanted to that is, we could handle taking that step."

"Boo-boo bear... It's not that I wouldn't WANT to, but I'm just not sure... I mean, what if our parents ever caught us? Or, God forbid, one of my sibs or Ronnie Anne... And what if I got pregnant!? I literally don't know if I could risk that. How would I ever get to be the CEO of some major corporation if I became a teen mom?"

"I suppose we'd have to be really careful about where and when we'd do... uhh... 'it'. And we'd use protection, babe. I wouldn't want us taking any major risks like that." Looking into Lori's eyes, Bobby could see she was uncertain. He knew choosing to take this step or not would be a tricky decision. "You don't have to make up your mind right now, babe. I don't wanna ruin your birthday. Why don't we think about it and then make up our mind later?"

"Ok." Lori reached over and gave Bobby a hug. "We should head back to the party, then." she said as she started the car back up."

Things were still going through her mind as she drove. Should she go through with this? Would Bobby be upset if she said no? And what about all the risks involved? Even if they used every form of protection known to man and some known to dolphins, there's the chance they could all fail and she could get pregnant. Oh my God, what if she did!? Would Bobby stay with her? Would her family forgive her? Would she have to give up her dreams? Ok, now she's freaking out.

Lori started breathing deeply and focusing on the road. "Ok, I literally don't think I can figure this out by myself." she thought in her head. "I have no idea how they'd react, but I gotta ask at least one of my sisters."

She began to think about who to talk to. Obviously, she'd have to stick with the older ones. Everyone younger than Lynn wouldn't (or at least SHOULDN'T) know a thing about sex. Speaking of Lynn, Lori didn't even know if she got "the talk" from Mom yet. She had begun puberty a while back, but she never really showed any signs of having those sorts of interests. And if she did, it was drowned out by sports and food so much that no one would ever notice.

So, talking to Lynn wouldn't happen. That left Leni, Luna, and Luan. Lori had memories of helping all three of them with boy troubles, so she knew they could somewhat understand. But it was only a matter of what they would say. What if whoever she talked to got angry about it? What if they thought she was a total slut for even CONSIDERING pre-marital sex? Ok, freaking out again...

Thankfully, before she could totally crash her train of thought again, Lori spotted her house coming up, and turned into the driveway. Bobby bolted out of the car, and before she could say anything to him, he ran around, opened the driver's door, and held out his hand to help her out of the car.

"Oh, Boo-boo Bear, you're such a gentleman." she giggled as she accepted his hand. She knew he was genuinely a total sweetheart and wasn't just trying to "win points" in this situation. That's one of the reasons she fell for him in the first place.

After locking up the car and putting the keys away, Lori and Bobby both went into the house. And, as to be expected, things were totally chaotic. Luan was in full clown make-up and performing for various friends and family. Lola and Lana were chasing a screaming woman, who Lori recognized as her father's coworker Margie, with water guns. Lisa was testing samples of birthday cake to see if they were safe to ingest. And Lincoln was sitting Ronnie Anne, watching one of their anime shows. In the show, a very overly muscular man was fighting a vampire, while another man in a top hat was watching from a safe distance.

Lincoln had his arm around Ronnie Anne's shoulder and they sat close together while they watched, which gave Lori and nearly uncontrollable urge to squeal and jump up and down like a little girl. But when Ronnie Anne looked up and saw her, she jumped and gently pushed Lincoln away, like she was disgusted. This made Lincoln look up in confusion, before he was Lori watching and blushed.

"Oh, uhhh, hey Lori. How was the drive?" he said, getting up and walking over to his sister. "You look kind of pale. Are you feeling ok?"

Lori gulped and began to sweat a bit. Lincoln could always tell when something was up. This was both a blessing and a curse to his siblings, ESPECIALLY his oldest sister. "Y-yeah, bro. Just got a little carsick, but I came back before I literally hurled all over my new ride."

Lincoln stared at her a bit, and she began to worry he'd see right through her lie, before he just shrugged. "You know that's what happens when you forget your carsickness medicine." He walked back over to the couch and sat down next to Ronnie Anne, who still kept the tough girl act going. "The party died down a bit while you were gone, but there's still a bit goi-OH YEAH!" Lincoln interrupted himself, getting excited over the fight sequence in the anime. Lori simply rolled her eyes and went back to the party.

 _Later..._

After the party wound down and most of the guests went home, the Loud family began cleaning up. Keeping the place clean when it's just them around is a challenge, but when they throw a party and have a whole crowd over? Things get pretty hectic.

Despite being told that she didn't have to help since she was the Loud of honor that day, Lori opted to assist in the clean-up. It was the least she could do for her family after such a great day. That, and it might give her an opportunity to talk to one of her sisters about her thoughts. And right now, she was alone with the Loud you'd think of last when you hear the word 'thoughts': Leni.

The two girls were carrying boxes of decorations down to the basement to use in later parties. And when they got down there, Lori stopped her sister before she could retreat.

"Leni, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Like, of course, Lori. What's up?" Leni said, giving an innocent smile.

"Ok..." Lori began, a bit nervous. "When me and Bobby were out on our drive, we were talking about things, and Bobby suggested that maybe we... move on to the next phase of our relationship."

"...The next phrase? But, like, don't you and Billy already say 'I love you'? What comes after that..." Leni stopped to think for a moment. "Oh. My. GOSH! Is the next phrase 'will you marry me'!? OH GOODNESS, YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

"What!? No! NO!" Lori grabbed her jumping sister. "It's not that! Not for a while. Actually, he meant to say that we should... maybe... have sex."

"Sex? What is that? Is that some kind of cake?"

Lori pinched the bridge of her nose, becoming frustrated. "No, Leni... Look. Do you remember Mom having a talk with you when you his puberty? You know, the birds and the bees?"

"I never hit anyone, Lori. And I don't even know somebody named Puber-WAIT, BEES!? WHERE!? OH MY GOSH, I'M, LIKE, SO ALLERGIC!" Leni screamed and ran up the stairs and out of the basement.

"Ok, I should've known this wouldn't work out..." Lori sighed as she followed.

A bit later, Lori went out to the garage. Judging by the blaring rock music, Luna was in there practicing.

Opening the door and peeking in, Lori could indeed see Luna jamming on her favorite purple guitar, along with two other folks. One of them she recognized as Luna's friend and roadie Chunk. It's difficult to determine which mystery is bigger: How dad is ok with Luna hanging out alone with a man in his late thirties, or how Luna could even afford a roadie. But Chunk was cool and got along with all the Louds, so nobody paid any mind. The other person was a Hispanic boy with cornrows that Lori didn't recognize.

"Oh, wassup, Lori!" Luna yelled, noticing her sister. "Come on in! I'm just wrapping up practice, I had Chunk and my buddy Colin helping me out!"

"Sorry to bother you, Luna. Hi Chunk, and hi Colin." She said, waving to the two men. "Luna, when you have a minute, do you think I could talk to you in your room? It's important."

"Of course! Just give me a moment to help the boys pack up, and I'll be right with ya!" Luna leapt down from her stage and grabbed a box as Lori went back into the house.

 _More later..._

Lori sat on Luna's bed, looking to the ground and kicking her feet, before she heard the door open and saw Luna walk in.

Luna shambled over to the bed and fell backwards on to it. "Phew! Those boxes were heavier than I thought... Anyway, what's up, sis? You hooked on a feeling?"

"Luna, don't freak out, but I need your advice... Bobby asked me if we wanted to take the next step in our relationship, and I don't know what I should do..." When she said that, Luna sat up, understanding the situation immediately, unlike Leni.

"Woah. I knew you said this was important, but I didn't realize you wanted to talk about sex, baby." Luna looked Lori right in the eyes. "Is Bobby pressuring you? Because if he is, I swear i'll kick him in his little taquito-"

"No, no! He isn't pressuring me at all! In fact, he was probably even more nervous than I am." Lori sighed and looked back to the ground. "I'm not sure what I should do. On one hand, I kind of _want_ to, I won't deny that. But on the other hand, there's risks I need to consider, and I'm still a bit unsure about doing it without getting married. That's how Mom and Dad raised us, after all."

"You know, Lori, as shocking as it sounds, I'm not all that knowledgable about sex. I know folks think that the rocker chick would be the most likely to be sexual, but I ain't like that."

Lori began to look discouraged, thinking Luna was about to tell her to go talk to somebody else, before Luna continued. "But I do know that the most important thing is that you're in love. And I know you and Bobby love each other. God, you never shut up about it!" she said with a small smile. "I say go for it! If Bobby is being a gentleman about it and you want it, I don't see a reason to hold off."

"I don't know if I agree with that, sis."

Luna and Lori both looked up to the doorway, seeing Luan walk in and shut the door.

"Sorry for _eaves_ dropping in, but I couldn't help but overhear this." she said as she walked over to them, with an uncharacteristly serious face despite the pun. "Lori, I know you and Bobby love each other, but I don't think you should do this. If things don't work out, this could ruin your relationship."

"I know there are drawbacks, Luan, but maybe I can live with them."

"That's what you'll say now, but what if the worst happens, Lori? What if you get pregnant? Do you know how terrible things can be for a young, unwed mother? You can kiss college and your dream career bye."

Luna looked up at her younger sister with a curious expression. "Wow, you're really pessimistic about this. That ain't like you at all, sis."

"I know I sound bad, but I'm trying to think realistically." Luan said with a shrug. "I might be a bit of a prude, but I don't think this is a good idea. I think Lori should wait until they get married before doing this."

"Luan, if they love each other, then it shouldn't matter!"

"What's love got to do with it!?"

"Hey, don't make song references to me, you bucktoothed b-"

"GIRLS! GIRLS! STOP THIS!" Lori got up and screamed. "Please, don't fight over this. This is literally MY problem, and I refuse to let it become a problem between you two. Now drop it!"

Luna sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, sis."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm the one who barged in and started his." Luan said as she walked forward and hugged her sister. "And I'm sorry for being rude to you, Lori. Guess you could say I was acting like a real _dick_ , huh? Haha!"

"It's ok, Luan" Lori said after groaning at the sexual pun. "But I think I'll sleep this over. Good night."

Lori sighed as she left the room and shut the door behind her. She began to solemnly walk to her own bedroom door across the hall, when the sight of someone further down stopped her.

"Lori, are you ok?" her brother Lincoln's voice called out. "I heard Luna and Luan argue, but I didn't know you were in the middle of it."

"I'm fine, Linc. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

"Oh, ok. If you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me. I promise I'll help however I can!" Lincoln said confidently.

Lori couldn't help but smile at her brother. This is why he had the admiration of all of his sisters, despite any of his faults.

"Well, a lot of the details I have to keep secret, but I can talk a little bit about it..."

 _A couple minutes later_...

Lincoln sat on the end of Lori's bed, listening to her talk. Rarely was he allowed in here, but since Lori seemed so troubled and wanted to get it off her chest, she permitted it so they could talk.

"So, a friend asked you to do something, and you don't know if you should?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"This isn't anything really bad like drugs or beer or anything, is it?"

"No way. I don't do any of that. This is something entirely legal and ok, it's just tricky."

"Ok. and Luna was telling you to pick on option, while Luan pressured you into picking the other?"

"Yep."

"That's seems about right. But you need to ask yourself, Lori: What is it YOU want?"

"If I could answer that, Linc, this would literally be easy and I wouldn't need to ask people for advice."

"I know, I know. But sometimes there are decisions that nobody else can make for you. As cheesy and cliche as this sounds, sometimes you just gotta follow your heart."

Lori pondered for a moment. Overall, she never did really make any progress. Leni was useless for intellectual advice, of course. Luna and Luan both offered opposing standpoints, which were both valid. But the more she thought, the more she realized Lincoln was right. Nobody could make this decision for her. It was up to her hand her alone."

"You're right, bro. I gotta mull this over on my own. Thanks for the advice. Now get out of my room, twerp!" Lori said in a joking, non-hostile way. Lincoln smiled and walked out, closing the door behind him.

As he left, Lincoln turned and faced down the hallway, as if acknowledging somebody who isn't there.

"I'm always happy to help my sisters, even if they think I'm too innocent or dumb to figure things out because of my age. I'm sure no matter what, Lori will make what she feels is the right decision about doing... 'that' with Bobby. I just hope they don't do it here, these walls are thin." Lincoln shivered as he headed off to his room.

 _ **Epilogue**_

Lori had thought things over, and decided to talk to Bobby in person about it the next day. Driving in her new car, she went to his house. His parents and sister were gone for a while, so they could be alone.

Lori sat with Bobby on the living room couch, with the TV on but neither of them paying attention. Something about two guys blowing up a car for science.

"Boo-Boo Bear, I thought about it, and I got a bit of advice, and I made a decision." Lori said, holding Bobby's hand.

Bobby gave her his trademark crooked smile. "W-well, whatever it is, Babe, it'll be fine."

"I've decided that we won't do it. Not for a while, anyway. I think we should wait at least until we are engaged."

"Alright, Babe. I understand completely."

"However..."

Hearing that word immediately caught Bobby's full attention.

"There's a few... things we can try out without going ALL the way..." Lori purred in his ear.

"B-babe?" Bobby gulped as she grabbed his hand and dragged him to his bedroom, locking the door behind them.

The day after Lori's birthday was a pretty good day.

* * *

 **Well, there we go, fellas. My first episode :) I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I honestly didn't like Lori when I first began watching, but she grew on me. Being an older sibling myself, I could relate to both the angry, unforgiving bossiness, and the bond she shares with Lincoln despite it all. That, and we're both scared of the dark. Don't tell anyone!**

 **As for what's next, I'll have to think about it. I have the stories for a few sisters planned out (And Lincoln too. I'm not leaving him behind :D), but planning an order to do them in is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. I'll get it figured out. I already know which story I want to save for last, or at least the last of the 'first season', if I opt to do more afterwards. It'll be the one focusing on my favorite character. (Though I love them all. Even Lola.)**

 **Anyway, I'll probably not begin work on the second story until next week, or at least I'll keep progress slow for that time. Season two finally kicks off, and I don't want an aspect of the stories being abolished by the main show RIGHT after I write it. Really, I should warn you not to expect any sort of schedule from me. If I make one, I'd definitely break it sooner or later. But I'll do my best to not be a total slowpoke.**

 **Ok, shutting up now. I warned you guys I like to be descriptive about my thoughts. Hope you guys like the first story, and I'll see you with the next one!**


	3. Lucy

**Sorry for being late. I got distracted with Pokemon Sun. Best generation ever, in my opinion, and I've been playing since I got Red shortly after it's launch. Anyhow, I liked the new episodes, especially "Back in Black". And it fit very well with my plans for Lucy, so I decided to do her story next. I know she's a fan favorite, so I hope I do a good job. :)**

* * *

 **Lucy: What is Love?**

* * *

It was a cloudy afternoon in Royal Woods. Even though the sun still rested in the sky, light grey clouds blocked most of it, only welcoming small beams down to the surface. It hadn't fully begun raining yet, but the occasional drop would fall, warning people of what was to come.

A young girl was walking down the sidewalk. Most girls her age would be wearing bright colors and maybe skipping their way home, but this girl only wore the darkest shades of black and moved somberly and slowly. Her black hair, likely dyed since it was far darker than any natural black coloring, went down to her back. The bangs covered her eyes and hid them from outside view, but they did not hinder her sight at all. She likes the dark. This would be Lucy Loud, 8 years old, and the seventh of a total eleven Loud children.

It was just past 5 P.M., and young Lucy was walking home after her poetry club at the school library. Although the parents or the oldest sibling Lori would drive the entire Loud clan to their respective schools, most of them would get back home through different means and at different times. Technically, Lucy is SUPPOSED to be driven to and from school or extracurriculars by Lori, as are all of the Louds younger than Lincoln. But Lucy sometimes preferred to walk home by herself. The elementary school isn't far from the Loud abode, and Royal Woods is a safe community with the lowest crime rate in Michigan. As long as she went straight home, Lori felt she was at the age where she can be trusted to walk alone.

It gave her time to herself to think, too. Normally on the ride home, she would have to deal with the twins, Lola and Lana, arguing and almost always getting into a physical fight. And Lily, the baby, would often begin crying by now. Lucy loved them all dearly, of course, but it was all too much. Ironic that a girl named Loud would have so much issue with noise.

However, today Lucy wasn't much in the mood for thinking about the usual things: death, ghosts, poetry, Princess Pony, etc. She had been facing an issue for a quite a while that she simply couldn't think of a solution for. The Loud House was no stranger to odd problems, but this was a big one even for them.

"Sigh" said Lucy in a monotone voice. Her free thinking time had run out as she approached her home. She had been walking slowly to appreciate the beautiful weather, at least beautiful in her opinion. But that also means many of her siblings were home already. She could hear Lola's tantrums, Luna's rocking, and Lynn's destructive sports from nearly half a block away. No doubt Mr. Grouse, the next door neighbor, would shortly yell out his wind-

"LOUDS!" a deep, angry voice yelled suddenly. "KEEP IT DOWN OVER THERE! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO _ENJOY_ OUR DAY!" the complaint was then finished with the sound of a slamming window. The racket coming from the Loud home became slightly quieter, but only slightly. Mr. Grouse didn't truly hate the Loud family, especially after the very generous things they did for him last Christmas, but he still stuck to his old cranky ways when they caused some noise. And honestly, Lucy was appreciative for his yelling. Even a 1% reduction in the noise would make the day easier for her.

Walking through the front door, Lucy looked around to see who was home. Lori was watching television, Lola and Lana were playing/arguing (it becomes hard to distinguish the two), Luna was playing her guitar, Leni was modeling her new dress in front of Luan, who was likely thinking of an appropriate pun. And Lynn-

Was charging right at her with a football in hand.

"OOF!" was all Lucy heard before the jock bulldozed her.

"And Lynn Loud scores! TOUCHDOWN!" Lynn cheered, doing a small dance before looking down and noticing a still unemotional Lucy. Lynn reached down and grabbed the girl's hand, lifting her up almost effortlessly.

"Aww geez, I'm sorry, Luce." Lynn said sincerely, brushing some dirt and dust off of Lucy's black dress.

"Sigh. It's fine." The girl said, in her usual monotone.

"Uhhh… are you alright? You seem kind of… well, you're _always_ mopey… but you seem even mopey-er somehow."

Lucy looked Lynn right in the eyes. Or at least, it seemed that way, although her bangs made it impossible to tell for sure. "I told you I'm fine, Lynn." She said as she began walking up the stairs and to her room.

Feeling certain that Lynn would simply shrug and return to her game behind her, Lucy continued up the stairs without looking back. She simply wanted to go to her room and have some more alone time before supper. The girl looked around, really hoping to make it to her room without another interruption, but then.

"Hi, Lucy! How are you?"

The young male voice was the one Lucy hadn't wanted to hear yet. Composing herself, she turned and faced her older brother Lincoln.

"H-hi Lincoln. I'm fine, how are you?"

"I guess I'm ok. Me and Rusty turned in our solar system project, but it was so torn apart that we only managed to get a C+." the boy said with a small sigh. The two friends had worked so hard on it, but every time things looked their way, disaster struck. Usually in the form of a Loud sister…

Lucy remembered that entire scenario the other day. Mostly since she felt it was her fault. Her sudden crush on Rusty's younger brother, Rocky, was the catalsyst that started most of the disasters they faced.

"I'm sorry to hear that." she said sincerely. "I wish I didn't cause so much trouble for you that day..."

Lincoln walked over and put his hands on his sister's shoulders. "No, Lucy, don't be sorry. It's not your fault at all. Honestly, it's kind of my fault. I have to remember what happens to school projects around this house..." Lincoln flashed back to another incident involving a diorama, a bunch of oblivious sisters, and the back tire of Vanzilla...

Lucy looked up at Lincoln, and seemed to... blush? "W-well, it was still a little bit my fault, and I promise I'll make it up to you." she said with a small smile.

"Lucy, you don't have to make anything up to-"

Lincoln was interrupted by a hug from Lucy. Normally she wasn't very affectionate, but she would sometimes give one of her parents or older siblings a hug, with Lincoln usually being the most common recipient.

Lincoln closed his eyes and smiled, but when he opened them back up, the goth girl was nowhere to be seen. Now THAT was more like Lucy.

"I guess just had something to do. Maybe she only hugged me to shut me up..." Lincoln shrugged and walked downstairs. As he did, a small "Sigh" could be heard coming from Lynn and Lucy's bedroom door.

Lucy watched her brother walk down the stairs before shutting the door. She stood there for a moment, before turning around to walk to her bed. However, what she saw was instead the very close-up face of her sister Lynn.

"What was THAT all about, Luce?" she said, raising an eyebrow at her sister.

Lucy's heart went into overdrive as she jumped and tried not to yell. Geez, was THIS what she was always doing to her other siblings?

"H-h-how did you get in here? I was in the hallway, I didn't see you-"

"Let's just say I've learned from the best." Lynn said, giving Lucy a wink. "I've always wanted to do your sudden-spooky-teleporty thing to somebody. So I just watched you until I figured it out.

"You know... I didn't originally do it on purpose..." Lucy said with a sigh (a real one, not her spoken monotone) "People just wouldn't notice me there and get scared when I talked, I only started doing it intentionally to get people to stop ignoring me..."

"Lucy..."

"But I got used to it after a while. People not noticing me. People being scared of me. People thinking I'm a freak..."

"Nobody thinks your a freak, Lu-"

"Oh yeah!?" Lucy rose her voice, showing some anger through her monotone. "That's not what it looked like last weekend! When I asked for help with Rocky, you and the others were so quick to change me. You were so excited to turn me into a 'real' girl'. Lola even had a whole CHART about how to make me not look like a freak!"

"B-but you were trying to make yourself look normal." Lynn said softly, showing concern for her sister. "W-we thought we were helping you..."

"Yes, I did want to do it at first... But seeing how eager you guys were, how much you WANTED to change who I was... It really hurt, Lynn." Lucy said with a hint of sadness, which is very unlike her. "The only ones who liked me for who I am were Rocky and..." Lucy pasued for a moment, which Lynn noticed.

"Rocky and..." Lynn asked.

"And Lincoln." the goth girl responded. "Lincoln was the only one who stood up for me, and thought I should be myself." Lucy began to blush again. "He's the only one who ever seems to understand me, and love me no matter how I dress or how 'creepy' I am..."

Lynn raised her eyebrow again. "Man, Lucy. Keep talking about Linc like that, and I'd almost think you have a crush... on..." Lucy began to blush some more, and Lynn's mouth dropped. "Oh my God... Lucy, you actually... You have a crush on..."

Lucy nodded her head. "I... I think I do..."

"B-b-but what about Rocky? Don't you like him?" Lynn said, completely flabbergasted.

"I did... I mean, I do, he's still my friend and all. B-but my crush on _him_ went away after a while. We don't really like each other that way anymore..."

"I can understand that, Lucy. But having a crush on your own BROTHER!? Doesn't that feel even a little bit wrong to you?"

"Of course it does!" Lucy raised her voice again. "I didn't CHOOSE to like him. I've been freaking out about it all week! But I don't know what to do..." she lowered her tone again. "H-he's all I think about. I can't write poems because they're all about him, I can't read books about Edwin because I just picture him..."

"Look, Lucy..." Lynn said, taking Lucy's hand. "I know that this is a bit... confusing... but you've gotta try and snap out of it. Lincoln's your brother. He's 3 years older than you. He already likes a girl. He reads comics in his UNDERWEAR! Having a crush on him is weird, and it just won't work out." she said bluntly.

"Sigh. I know all of that. But I can't help it..." Lucy said, looking down at the floor.

"Don't worry, I'll try and help you get over it." Lynn said with a smile. "...Right after dinner. I am STARVING!" and with that, Lynn ran off out the door, making it halfway down the stairs before Dad even yelled that dinner was done.

"Must be sub night." Lucy said to herself as she walked downstairs.

 _After dinner..._

Lucy had just finished helping Luan and Lynn do the dishes. Lynn kept giving her a weird look every time they looked each other's way, but other than that, it went smoothy. She was just about to head back up to her room when she heard someone calling her name.

"Wait up, little dudette!"

Lucy turned around to see Luna walking up to her, which was kind of odd. Lucy and Luna were probably one of the more distant pairs of Loud siblings. They still loved each other as family, of course, but they rarely interacted. Luna loved loud music and Lucy loved quiet reading. Not much of a connection of interests.

"What is it, Luna?"

"I was wondering if we could talk for a bit in my room. If you want to, that is."

Lucy knew that Lynn would be expecting her, so they could talk more about the Lincoln situation, but a short detour wouldn't hurt.

"That would be ok, I suppose." Lucy responded, as she joined Luna up the stairs and into her room. Luan wasn't there, since there was a Jeff Dunham special on TV tonight.

Lucy took a good look around the room, since she never really came in here much. Even though the girls shared a bunk bed. the room was still split almost in half between them, showcasing their various interests. Luna's side had posers of bands and musicians, a large collection of music CDs, and some instruments, while Luan's side had comedy and clown props, a vanity for dressing up in various roles, and walls covered in posters of humerous images and Internet memes, showcasing a wide sense of humor.

Speaking of the CD collection earlier, Luna was looking through it. She took a CD and put it into her radio. Lucy was about to sigh, thinking she was about to get her ears blared off by some punk rock. But to her surprise, a more familiar electronic tone began to play.

"Is that... Depressed Mode?" Lucy curiously asked. "I didn't really think you'd be into that sort of thing, Luna..."

"They got a few things I like, but really, I'm not way into it." the rocker girl shrugged "But I occasionally buy some of the music that you girls - and Lincoln - like. To make you feel more comfortable hanging with me. I know I'm a little bit rock-n-roll, but some of you are little bit country. Or pop. Or opera. Or... whatever this genre's called, I don't quite know. You get the idea, sis."

Lucy never really knew that Luna thought so much about everyone else. It honestly made her feel a little bit guilty for never making a point to visit her. "So... what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Luna smiled and sat down on the bottom bunk of the bed, patting the side to invite Lucy to join her.

"Well, first off, you gotta be more careful about where you have conversations, sis. This house has got thin walls."

"What are you talking abo-" Lucy stopped mid-sentence, and began to blush. "H-how much did you hear?"

"Most of it, actually. Luan heard a bit, too, but I distracted her because I knew this was private." Luna smiled. "But you don't gotta be embarrassed, Luce. I'm not gonna go on about how wrong it is and stuff like Lynn did."

"Y-you're not?"

"Nah. Don't worry about a thing. It's perfectly normal at your age to have crushes on people you look up to. I know from experience."

"Experience?"

"Yeah. Just about all of us had a weird crush like that. When Lori was your age, she had a crush on Mr. McBride."

"Which Mr. McBride?"

"Uhh... Well, the one that kinda looks like Wayne Brady."

"You could've said 'the black Mr. McBride', you know."

"I know, but I've never really liked using race as a defining character trait. Kinda feels wrong to me, you know?" Luna said nervously. "Anyway, Lori had a crush on him. Me and Leni both kind of went through a phase where we wanted to marry dad."

"Really? Dad?"

"Mom says it's a natural thing for a little girl to think for a while. In our heads, marriage just meant that we really liked him, you know? It wasn't romantic or anything."

"Ok... what about Luan and Lynn?"

"Adam Sandler and Babe Ruth."

"What, really? But Adam Sandler's just some movie guy... and Babe Ruth's been dead for like 70 years."

"Yeah, well, didn't stop them from being obsessed. You don't remember when Lynn tried to have you talk to the Babe? See if he'd wait for her in the afterlife?"

Lucy thought for a moment. "I do kind of remember... But I didn't know she was using me for THAT kind of thing..."

Luna nodded. "Yep, real weirdo, she is. But anyway, that brings me to the important part of this discussion."

"Lincoln, right?"

"Yep. Let's just say, he would know what you're going through right now..."

"Wait... you mean Lincoln had a crush on one of you guys before?"

"Not just once." Luna smiled. "He kinda had this problem twice. Once when he was about 8 or 9, and again not too long ago."

Lucy thought back, but she didn't really remember any of that. "Well, who was it?"

"Well, when he was younger, he had a BIG crush on Leni. He followed her around a lot, and always wanted to volunteer to help her with her fashion and other stuff. He even offered to help her make her wedding dress for when they got married." Luna was trying not to chuckle to herself.

"Wow... what did Leni think about all of it?"

"Leni? Think? I don't really think she realized anything was weird about it. She actually started planning the wedding dress before Lori caught on and told her she couldn't marry her own brother!"

The idea of Leni and Lincoln getting married? That was enough to even get Lucy to smile and let out a small laugh. But she stopped once the idea dragged on, and the bride in the wedding picture started getting shorter and her hair and dress darker...

"Yeah, but after a while, Lincoln's crush faded away, like dust in the wind."

"What was the second one, though? You said Lincoln did it again."

"Oh yeah, that..." Luna rubbed the back of her head. "Well, that one was kind of... on me."

Lucy nodded, expecting that answer. Lincoln always looked up to Luna, to levels almost bordering worship. Not a surprise that if he had a crush on any of his sister's, it'd be her.

"How did that happen?" she asked.

"Well, it was after I took him to his first concert. We had a really great time. It was the first time I didn't screw it up." Luna smiled. "But after that, it got kind of weird. Linc would be nervous whenever I tried to talk to him. He'd avoid eye contact, he would suddenly have to use the bathroom if I asked him for a favor. And he'd bolt whenever I entered the room and he was reading comics in his underwear."

"So, how did you figure out what the problem was?"

Luna turned to her nightstand, opened the drawer, and began going through it. "Well, I found out what the problem was when I went into his room one day, and found... this!" Luna pulled out a crumbled up page of notebook paper.

The page showed a fairly crude drawing of two stick figures, an orange one with white hair obviously meant to be Lincoln, and one with brown hair and a purple body that represented Luna. The figures were holding hands and smiling, with a few hearts surrounding them.

Normally, Lucy would find this funny, but this was too familiar of her own problem to poke fun at.

"Yeah, after that I had a talk with him in here, just like with you. I remember playing my Yeah record, because he liked this song they did called Roundabout. Apparently they used it in an anime he had started watching..."

"Anyway, I just tried my best to figure out how to help him. I told him that it was just fine to have a crush on me, I wasn't angry and I wouldn't laugh at him or anything like that. But that I couldn't return those feelings. I told him 'Linc, you're the most rockin' bro a girl could ever want. And I love you more than I can say. But not in that way, y'know?'"

Lucy nodded, showing that she was still listening. "What did he do after that?"

"Well, he was kinda bummed. But he understood what I meant. We agreed that we'd just be two really good friends, and after a while, I guess that crush went away, too."

"That's good... But I have one question. What does all this have to do with me?"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that what you're feeling isn't bad. You aren't some sort of freak or anything... By the way, I heard about how you felt with the whole Rocky thing, and I'm REALLY sorry about that, sis." Luna put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I promise, none of us were trying to hurt you. We just wanted to help."

"But anyway, like I said before, just don't worry. Every little thing is gonna be alright."

Lucy thought about everything. And honestly, Luna was kind of right. Hearing that she wasn't some weirdo that needed fixing, and that everybody, even the target of her affection, knew what she was going through, kind of lifted her spirits a bit.

"Thanks a lot, Luna." Lucy said. After a second of hesitation, the goth girl even turned and gave her older sister a hug, which she gladly reciprocated.

"Any time, sis. I know we don't got a whole lot in common, but come and chill with me more often. Makes me happy to see there's more to you than 'Miss Doom and Gloom'"

Lucy smiled as she got up and left the room, waving goodbye to her sister. She'd definitely take Luna up on that offer. There was a strange wisdom the older girl carried that Lucy never really noticed before. Guess that's what they say about judging a book by it's cover. Or a music album, in Luna's case.

Before going back to her room, though, the goth girl knew she had one more thing she wanted to do. Pulling a pen and a small black notepad out of her pockets, she began jotting something down.

A few moments later, Lucy was going down the hall. She went to the door of what was once a large closet, but was now repurposed into a bedroom for one.

Very slowly, Lucy turned the doorknob and stepped through the door. Looking to the bed, she saw her brother there. He was facing away from the door on his bed, reading a comic book. Tip-toeing in a bit more, Lucy noticed that he was in his underwear, which made her face turn a deep red.

Recomposing herself and forcing her face to turn back to it's familiar pale white, Lucy decided to make her move.

"Hey Lincoln."

As usual, the boy screamed and leapt into the air, nearly falling off the bed. Honestly, even though it started as sad, Lucy rather enjoyed doing that to her siblings now. They could consider it payback for not noticing her more.

"LUCY!" Lincoln shouted before getting up. "You know, you could just knock."

"I have a new poem I wanted to read to you. Unless you're too busy..."

"No, no, it's fine." the boy said "I was just reading my new comic. It's about an all-female pirate crew that recruits a boy." putting the book down, Lincoln began redressing himself. "Anyway, let's hear it!"

Lucy cleared her throat and opened her notepad.

 _Brother_

 _Shirt of orange, hair of white_

 _Stands strong and tall, like a shining knight_

 _Ten young maidens, he protects_

 _His love for them, he never neglects_

 _Although sometimes they cause a fight_

 _They gather to him like a guiding light_

 _With him around, they cannot fail_

 _In the Loud House, love shall prevail_

Lucy closed her book and put it back into her pocket. Looking up, she was Lincoln smiling to her, looking like he could nearly cry.

"Lucy... that was beautiful. Why'd you write that?"

"Because sometimes I worry that we don't show you enough gratitude around here. We don't tell you enough how much we love you."

Lincoln got up and pulled his younger sister in for a hug. "Thanks, Lucy. You're a great sister."

Lucy blushed a bit, but reached her arms up and returned the hug. "No, Lincoln, thank you. You're the best brother ever. And that's all I could ever ask for."

 ** _The end._**

* * *

 **I'll be honest, Lucy was the one I was probably most nervous about writing for. Goth/emo/unemotional characters are cool, but sometimes it hard to figure out what they're thinking or feeling. Like I said above, I wasn't sure how to approach this, but the episode "Back in Black" gave me some ideas. So thank Savino himself for pushing me along. :)**

 **I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do something with Luna here, too. I've grown the perception that she's the wisest of the Loud siblings, and probably the one most attentive to the younger girls aside from Lincoln. Though I may be biased since she's my 2nd favorite character in the show.**

 **But anyway, I hope you guys liked the story. As for next time, I'm thinking I'll do a story about one of the twins. I've got an idea for each of them, but if you guys want to suggest which one of them to do first, I'll listen.**


	4. Lana: Part 1

**Well, two people voted for Lana's story, so here she is!**

* * *

 **Lana: Loved and Lost**

* * *

It was a calm and peaceful weekend at the Loud House. The Loud siblings were hanging out and doing their favorite activities, and for once, things didn't seem to go wro-

"YOU GOT MUD ON MY SPARKLY DRESS!"

"YOU GOT YOUR DUMB GLITTER IN MY MUD!"

Oh boy. Seems another play session between two of the girls has gone awry. In the backyard, we see them standing directly in front of each other, almost pushing their faces together in an effort to intimidate the other.

One of these young girls had perfectly groomed blonde hair topped with a tiara, and wore a fabulous (and likely expensive) pink dress covered in glitter, and an unfortunate splash of mud on the side. The girl opposite to her WOULD look exactly the same... if not for the dirty, knotted pigtails, a red baseball cap, and overalls soaked in a far more generous amount of mud.

These would be the twins, Lola and Lana.

"COULDN'T YOU GO ROLL AROUND IN THE DIRT IN THE FRONT YARD!?

"COULDN'T YOU HAVE FAKE TEA WITH YOUR STUPID STUFFED ANIMALS IN THE FRONT YARD!?"

"MY STUFFED ANIMALS ARE _NOT_ STUPID! YOUR DUMB REPTILES ARE STUPID!"

Lana looked hurt for a moment, before her face turned back to a furious shade of red.

"MY PETS ARE NOT STUPID, TAKE THAT BACK!"

"Nope." the diva said quietly and calmly, which made the response even more infuriating.

"TAKE. IT. BACK."

"Nope."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" would be the last thing Lola heard before being tackled to the ground.

As sounds of screaming and violence filled the air, the other residents of the house poured into the backyard. From their angle, all that could be seen was a cloud of dust and dirt, with the occasional fist or foot sticking out only to be swung back in.

One in the group, the young boy named Lincoln, tried to step forward and say something, but was quickly pulled back by his sister Lynn, who seemed to be wearing protective yellow gear.

"SISTER FIGHT PROTOCOL!" the jock screamed, as two more girls in padding, Luna and Luan, ran forward. Reaching into the ball of violence, they pulled the two fairly beaten young girls out, and ran back into the house in separate directions.

"Lynn..." Lincoln sighed, "I could've helped get them to stop fighting..."

Lynn gave her brother a sly grin. "No can do, bro. You remember what happened last time, right? We gotta let them work this one out."

As the crowd began to walk back into the house, the smallest of them, beside the baby, pulled out a chart. Lisa shouted out "OK PEOPLE, WE'RE BACK DOWN FROM HISSING CAT TO THUNDERSTORM!" Lincoln still didn't understand that system, but he shrugged and went back inside.

As Lincoln went upstairs to his room, he saw Luan at the top of the stairway, with some sort of gate blocking him.

"Luan, what's the big deal?" Lincoln sighed.

"Sister fight protocol, Lincoln. Lana is to be relocated to your room tonight." Luan signaled for Lucy to walk by, escorting Lana. "Don't worry, Linc. It'll _brawl_ work out in the end."

As Luan laughed at her own joke, Lana turned to see her brother and stopped. "Hey Lincoln, you can still sleep on your bed if you want. I'll be comfortable on the floor."

"Lana, I can't let you sleep on the floor, that wouldn't be fair."

"No, no, I insist." Lana smiled, showing off her tooth gap. "Sometimes I sleep on the floor with Charles anyway. It's perfectly fine."

"Well... ok, I guess."

 _ **That night...**_

As Lincoln completed his nightly pre-bedtime rituals, he began to walk back to his room. Opening the door, he saw Lana there. She was setting a large blanket up on the floor, trying to make a pet bed shape out of it.

"Oh, Lana! I forgot you were sleeping in here tonight..."

"It's cool, Linc. I'm just setting my spot up."

"You know, there's enough room in my bed for another person, so you can sleep there if you want." Lincoln said. "I just don't feel right with you sleeping on the floor."

"Are you sure? Cause I roll around in my sleep a lot, I might end up kicking you or something."

"It's fine. If I could handle a week straight of Lynn snoring in my ear and giving me Dutch ovens, I can handle that." Lincoln smiled as he grabbed Lana's pillow and put it next to his own.

As they both got comfortable in bed, Lincoln turned around to look at Lana.

"So, I know I'm not supposed to talk about it, but what was that fight all about?"

Lana's happy face formed a bit of a frown. "Well, I was just playing in the mud with Izzy, and I accidentally splashed Lola. I was going to apologize, but she started yelling, and when she yells at me, I always end up yelling back..."

"But then why'd you attack her?"

"She called my pets stupid... I can handle anything mean people say about ME, but when somebody says something about Hops or Izzy or Charles or any of the animals, I just... lose it."

Lincoln nodded. All of the Louds had something they cared about deeply, and many people would think that Lana's was mud. But animals were always first. She'd give up mud and live the rest of her life dressed like Lola if it would benefit her pets somehow.

"Well, what if tomorrow, you try to apologize to Lola?"

"Me, apologize to HER!?" Lana said angrily. "Why would I do that? She started it!"

"I know, I know. But you know Lola. She won't take the blame for it. And if you apologize to her, it could cool you both off before one of you does something really dumb to the other."

Lana tried to keep arguing, but she sighed. "Your right, Lincoln. I'll tell her I'm sorry for ruining her dumb tea party..."

"Ok. Let's get to sleep so we can get up early, then." Lincoln turned and turned off his light, before tucking his arms back under his blanket and getting comfortable. "Good night, Lana."

"Good night, Lincoln." Lana said, as Lincoln closed his eyes and began to fall asleep.

Lana, however, looked up at the ceiling for a while, and pondered what she should do. Well, what she WANTED to do was throw some mud into that dumb diva's face. But Lincoln was right, dragging the fight on would just be bad for both of them, and for everybody in the house. She'd have to make amends with Lola before the fight had a chance to escalate or drag other sisters into it.

Feeling sleep begin to creep up on her, Lana rolled over to her side and closed her eyes. But before falling completely, she reached forward and pulled herself closer to Lincoln, cuddling him closely. A small smile formed on both their faces as Lana fell asleep.

 _ **Morning...**_

Lana slowly opened her eyes and looked around. According to Lincoln's alarm clock, the time was 7:13, Sunday morning. Speaking of Lincoln, the boy had already woken up, as he wasn't in the bed any more. This saddened Lana a bit, as she had hoped to cuddle with her older brother a while longer. Although she'd put up a tough facade and deny it, it was the most comfortable she had been in a long time.

Going downstairs, Lana saw that the Loud House was already bustling. Lori sat on the couch and was texting somebody, likely Bobby. Leni was on the other end of the couch, and was watching one of the Land Before Time films on TV. Lana remembered that they had been Leni's favorite movies since her childhood. Luna and Luan were talking about Weird Sal's new album. Being a musical comedian, he was something that both of them could enjoy together.

Walking into the dining room, Lana saw a barricade posted at the kitchen door, with Lisa manning it. It was safe to assume that Lola was in there having breakfast, and wasn't quite ready to settle things yet.

"Hey, Lisa."

"I'm sorry, Lana." Lisa responded, unintentionally spitting a bit due to her lisp. "But the situation is still at Thunderstorm. I have to ask that you return for your breakfast at 7:30 when... the other party is finished."

"Ok, I understand. But could you get me my food for the pets upstairs? I'll feed them while... the other party isn't there."

Lisa opened a notepad, likely containing a schedule, and scanned through it before nodding. "That is acceptable. Lucy, please fetch the reptile and amphibian feed from refrigeration unit."

Lucy looked at Lisa confused for a moment, before Lisa sighed. "Get the food for Lana's pets from the fridge, if you would." Understanding that better, Lucy fetched the containers from the fridge and handed them to Lisa, who then handed them to Lana.

"Thanks, Lis." Lana said before going back upstairs and into her and Lola's bedroom. Going to her end of the room, Lana began opening the containers and collecting food for each animal.

"Ok, some fruit for Izzy... Some rat stuff for Lucifer... Some flies for Hops..."

However, as Lana said the last name, she looked up to Hops' tank and saw that it was empty.

"Hops? Where are you, you silly frog?" Lana said as she began looking around. Behind the tank, in the other tanks, under both beds, in Lola's stuff, in Lola's diary... but the frog was nowhere to be found.

"What on Earth could've happe-" Lana stopped mid-thought and formed a scowl. She had an idea what might've happened.

Even from the kitchen, the stomping coming down the stairs could be heard as Lana approached. Lisa tried to stop her at the barricade again, but Lana gently moved her aside and stepped over it, going to the kid's table where a certain princess was drinking tea.

"YOU!" Lana yelled, which caught Lola's attention. "What did you do with Hops!?"

Lola had a smug look on her face as she sipped her tea and then set it down.

"Hops? Oh, you mean the stupid reptile?"

Lana's face turned red again. "He is NOT stupid! And he's an AMPHIBIAN, NOT A REPTILE! NOW WHERE IS HE!?"

"Oh, he looked so unhappy in his little aquarium." Lola said as she shrugged, not changing the smug look on her face. "So I... just let him out for a bit to catch some air."

"WHAT!? YOU KNOW HE LIKES TO RUN AWAY!" Lana yelled. She wanted so badly to do something to Lola, but Hops took priority, so she ran off yelling his name.

Having overheard the situation by chance and TOTALLY not by eavesdropping, the other Loud girls, and Lincoln, began to help Lana search. The last thing they needed was for DEFCON 1 to happen.

Lori searched the living room with Lana, Luna and Luan searched the dining room, Lucy searched the basement, Lincoln, Lisa, and Lynn searched upstairs, Lola stayed at her table, and Leni... just stared out the front window.

"What are you doing, Leni? We're literally trying to stop this from going to Erupting Volcano!" Lori yelled. Leni, however, kept staring outside.

"I'm just watching this cute little frog in the front yard! He's, like, totes adorable hopping around out there!" Leni said, turning to her sister with a smile on her face.

Overhearing her older sister, Lana ran for the front door and pushed her way outside. Taking a moment to cover the sudden glare of the sun from her eyes, she could see a familiar frog sitting on the sidewalk in front of the yard

"Oh, Hops! Thank goodness I found you! Now lets get you back inside..."

Either not listening to or not hearing her owner, Hops took another leap, which put him at the end of the sidewalk.

"Hops, you know you shouldn't play by the road. Come on, buddy." Lana beckoned again as she walked faster towards the frog. And again, he hopped, landing in the road.

"Hops..." Lana sighed, now standing on the sidewalk.

Hops kept moving forward, now in the middle of the road.

Lana moved forward into the road, now reaching for her frog. However, she was stopped dead in her tracks by the sound of a loud horn.

A loud, collective scream could be heard coming from the front yard as Lori and Lincoln bolted forward

To Lana, time seemed to have slowed to a halt as she looked up, seeing a car barely a few feet away, with a surprised man at the wheel. She was frozen in place like a deer, barely able to register what was happening, before she felt the grip of her older sister on one of the suspenders of her overalls pull her back.

"HOPS, NO!" the girl screamed as she fell backwards.

And as time seemed to resume, all Lana could hear was the screeching of a car hitting the breaks...

And the horrible, horrible sound of a ribbit being cut short by a disgusting squish.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

 **This wasn't originally going to be a two-parter, but I didn't wanna keep you guys waiting too long. I'm a slow writer. :| But I got a preview of the 2nd part for you guys.**

* * *

Lola smirked as she saw Lana walk into the kitchen.

"So, did you find the dumb frog yet? Or did you come to apologize for ruining my favorite dress yesterday?

Lana didn't respond. She simply walked toward Lola, not lifting her face from the ground.

"Uh... you're acting kinda creepy. What's going on?"

Lana stopped right in front of Lola. From here, she could see Lana's face was a dark red, with wet lines under her eyes. Further down, her hands were balled into fists, and appeared to be stained red.

"L-Lana, what is that!? Y-you're scaring me!"

Lola tried to back away, but Lana reached her hand out and grabbed her arm, squeezing it with unnatural strength for a 6 year old. Lana looked up and opened her mouth, but she was barely able to form a sentence through her gasping and crying.

"I... I'm going..."

Lola tried to back away, but, Lana tightened her grip, causing her to squeal in pain.

"I'm going... to KILL YOU!"


	5. Lana: Part 2

**And now, part 2 of our story.**

* * *

 _Lana: Loved and Lost_

* * *

"HOPS, NO!"

Lana tried to fight herself free from Lori's grasp, but to no avail. Lori was panicking, yelling for somebody to call their parents at work. Leni ran off to do so while Lincoln and the rest of the girls surrounded the two, drowning each other's voices out with shouted questions of fear and concern.

"Oh my God, I didn't hit her, did I!?" a strange voice shouted over them. Turning around, the family saw a man standing there, his eyes wide. Considering the car stopped in the road with skid marks behind it, this must be the driver of the vehicle.

"Yeah, you're lucky you didn't hit her, you blind piece of shi-" Lori began to yell, before Luna reached over and covered her mouth. "Nah dude, she's safe and sound." The girl added.

"Oh thank goodness. She just jumped right in front of me and I was so scared." The man sighed with relief. Releasing Lori's mouth, Luna walked over to talk to the man. Meanwhile, Lana took this time to squirm free and run back to the road."

"Hops? Where's Hops!? Where is he!?"

Lucy, Lisa and Luan had beaten her to the road. The goth had a curious but disturbed look on her face, while the older looked green and ready to puke. Lisa was kneeling down in the road, examining something on the ground.

"L-Lana…" Luan said softly, not trying to inject any humor into her speech. "I-I don't think you want to see…"

"Yes I do! Let me see Hops!" Lana shouted, charging at Luan. However, Luan didn't move, and instead kneeled down to grab Lana and stop her.

"You don't understand, Lana! Hops is…"

"Give me your hat…"

The two girls jumped, nearly forgetting Lucy was there.

"What, Lucy?"

"You can hold Hops, but only if you give me your hat…"

Lana hesitated for a second, but then reached up and grabbed her hat, handing it to the goth girl.

Lucy had turned around and handed the hat to Lisa. A second later, Lisa got up and turned around. She held Lana's hat in her hands, but something was inside. And despite the hat already being red, a darker stain could be seen on it, which had also spread to Lisa's hands, although she had put on plastic gloves. The girl looked down at the ground as she approached Lana.

"Time of death: 7:24 AM…"

Lana took the hat and held it in her hands. The bundle smelled foul, and the liquid staining it felt thick on her hands. She would have asked what this was supposed to be, if she didn't see one green leg sticking out of it…

"No…. Hops, no... H-he's not dead! He can't be dead! He was just fine!" Lana began mumbling to herself. Tears began to fall from her face, but she didn't notice.

"I-I'm sorry, Lana." Luan said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. But Lana simply jerked her shoulder away as she fell to her knees, leaning her head down to the hat.

"Why… why did this happen? Why to Hops? Why to ME!?"

Lucy walked back over to Lana, looking down at the girl.

"Lana… If you'd like, I can give Hops a proper funeral." The goth said, with a tone of concern and sadness breaking her usual monotone. However, Lana didn't respond. She simply stared down at the bundle in her arms, crying like no tomorrow.

Lucy's frown grew a bit. She opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped, having no clue what to say. Looking up, she saw Lincoln approach. This relieved Lucy, who was sure Lincoln could get threw a bit better.

"Lucy's right, Lana. We should do that for Hops." The boy said, kneeling down beside his sister. Lana didn't immediately respond, but she turned to her brother. Her face was completely red, and tears and snot stained it completely.

"O-o-…ok…" Lana finally said. Lucy motioned to take the hat from Lana, and the girl immediately jerked back, holding it close.

"Lana…" Lincoln said softly. "Let Lucy take him. She'll make sure he's ok for it…"

Although she was still hesitant, Lana gave in, allowing Lucy to take Hops. After walking out of Lana's sight, she opened the hat up and looked at the contents. A shiver went down her spine, and she closed it back up, heading back in.

As she opened the door, Leni rushed back out, informing Lori that their mother was on her way home immediately, and that their father would be a while longer, but would also leave early. Luna also returned from talking with the man in the car. He had left her a paper with his insurance information, just in case something had to be done.

Lincoln was still talking to Lana, trying to encourage her to get up and into the house. But Lana stayed put.

"This wouldn't have happened if Lola wasn't such a-"

Lana immediately lifted her head at attention after hearing that. It was Lori's voice, talking to the older girls in a conversation on the other side of the yard, but hearing that name was an immediate trigger to the grieving little girl.

Lola.

Lana silently stood up. Still looking down, she began to walk to the front door, moving almost as if in a trance. Lincoln started to follow, but stopped. He figured she would be heading to her room, and she would need this alone time to truly grieve.

However, that wasn't where Lana's mind was taking her. Upon entering the house, she walked straight for the kitchen. Thankfully nobody else was around, or they might have figured out what was about to happen.

Approaching the doorway, Lana looked forward, and saw _her_ sitting right where they left her.

Lola smirked as she saw Lana walk into the kitchen.

"So, did you find the dumb frog yet? Or did you come to apologize for ruining my favorite dress yesterday?"

Lana didn't respond. She simply walked toward Lola, not lifting her face from the ground.

"Uhhhh... you're acting kinda creepy. What's going on?"

Lana stopped right in front of Lola. From here, she could see Lana's face was a dark red, with wet lines under her eyes. Further down, her hands were balled into fists, and appeared to be stained red.

"L-Lana, what is that!? Y-you're scaring me!"

Lola tried to back away, but Lana reached her hand out and grabbed her arm, squeezing it with unnatural strength for a 6 year old. Lana looked up and opened her mouth, but she was barely able to form a sentence through her gasping and crying.

"I... I'm going..."

Lola tried to back away, but, Lana tightened her grip, causing her to squeal in pain.

"I'm going... to KILL YOU!"

Outside in the yard, Lincoln and the oldest sisters heard a blood-curdling scream for the second time today. They ran straight into the house, fearing the worst as another scream was let out. But when they got to the kitchen, they froze.

They saw the twins. Lola was on the floor, with a large purple bruise on her face and blood coming from her nose. Lana was on top of her, pinning her down as she brutally assaulted the girl. Tears covered Lola's face, although they weren't just hers. Lana was crying as well.

Normally, breaking up twin fights was a normal daily occurrence for the siblings. But right now, they were frozen. Sure, they'd get violent plenty of times, but this... only once was blood ever drawn in a fight, and the sight of it scared both of them so badly that they would restrain themselves from hitting that hard again. And usually the fights were brief, almost cartoonish in a way.

But this...

Lana was truly, genuinely trying to beat her sister to death.

The Louds stood frozen as Lucy and Lisa appeared in the crowd, also displayed looks of horror. However, as Lana's hands moved down to Lola's throat, Lori was able to make herself move forward.

"Lana! LANA! STOP!" the oldest girl yelled as she grabbed her younger sister. But Lana fought back, keeping her grip on Lola as she was being pulled away. Although picking up a 6 year old shouldn't be too hard, Lori was unable to keep the squirming little girl in her arms. She still had a grip on Lola's throat, and the girl was beginning to make the sounds of somebody choking.

Luckily, Luan and Lincoln moved in, both grabbing Lana's arms and forcibly pulling them off of Lola. Lana continued to scream and kick as Lori and Luan dragged her away into another room, with all of the other girls following. Lincoln stayed back, however, to check on Lola.

The diva's face was completely red, save for a large bruise on her left cheek, and a left eye that was slowly swelling and turning black. Her nose was still bleeding, though not terribly, and there were red marks on her neck.

She was visibly shaking, hugging herself in a fetal position and crying loudly.

"Lola?" Lincoln said, sitting down next to the girl. "Are you ok? I-I'm sorry, I should've stopped her before she came in..."

Lola looked over at her brother, her eyes still wide and barely focused.

She began to talk, but her loud crying and gasping made it hard "W-w-w-why did she d-do that? Sh-sh-she wanted to kill m-me!"

"You didn't know?" Lincoln said. She must've stayed in the kitchen and ignored all the commotion. "Hops got out... and he got hit by a car."

"Th-the frog? Why would she attack me fo-" Lola's eyes became even wider, something Lincoln wasn't sure was possible at this point. "I-I didn't mean for him to d-die! I j-just wanted to pay Lana back for r-ruining my dress!" Lola began to cry even harder.

"I know you didn't mean for it to happen. But it did. And we need to calm Lana down before something like this happens again." Lincoln sighed. "We're having a funeral for him, but maybe... it'd be best if you didn't show up. We don't need another episode happening so soon."

"O-ok..."

Lincoln helped his sister stand up, and right on cue, Lynn and Lisa appeared, wearing their Sister Fight Protocol gear.

"We'll take it from here, Lincoln." Lisa said. "With these... circumstances, I had to create a fight level above Erupting Volcano. At least until after the funeral, we are at Project: Jonestown level."

"Uhh... what does that mean?"

"In short, it means 'really, really bad'." the genius clarified as Lynn gently escorted Lola to the living room. Lisa was about to follow, but Lincoln stopped her.

"How is Lana doing?"

Lisa sighed and turned around, looking up at her brother. "Not well, I'm afraid. She is still in stage 4, but Lori, Luna, and Luan are keeping her under control until Mother arrives."

"Stage 4?"

"Yes. Of the 6 stages of grief, Lana is on stage 4: anger. She has already experienced shock, denial, and bargaining. Next is depression, and then acceptance."

"I see..." Lincoln sighed, sad to hear what was still yet to come for the poor girl. "Can I visit her?"

"I would advise against it. Lana might lash out at you. I think it would be best to wait until the funeral later."

As Lincoln opened his mouth to respond, he saw his mother rush in through the front door.

"Oh, Lincoln, Lisa!" she said frantically. "Where is Lana?"

"She's in your bedroom, but she's really freaking out. They can explain everything to you." the boy answered. His mother nodded her head and ran into the bedroom.

Back in the bedroom, Lana was still squirming. She was shouting, half in anger, and half from crying. Lori was holding her, while Luan stood by in case things got worse.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed, attempting to kick herself free from Lori's grasp. "LET ME GO! I'M GOING TO KILL THAT STUPID STUCK-UP MURDERER!"

"But then you'd literally be a murderer too!" Lori said, growing more annoyed with Lana despite understand her feelings. "Lola had no idea that was going to happen, hurting her won't solve anything!"

"YES IT WILL!"

"No, it WON'T!" Lori said, losing her patience. However, before she could shout any further, the door slammed open, with Rita Loud barging her way in.

"Mom?" the girls said in unison.

"I came as fast as I could… Lana, sweetie, how are you?"

"I'll be fine…" Lana said, unusually calmly considering what was happening 20 seconds ago.

"Oh, that's go-"

"…After I KILL LOLA!" the girl yelled, squirming in Lori's arms again.

"Kill Lola? What did she do now? Did she make fun of you about this?"

Luan walked over to her, and began whispering in her ear. At first Rita's face showed confusion, then anger, and then complete shock.

"Thank you Luan. You can go ahead out now." Rita said. As Luan nodded and left, the mom went over to the bed and sat next to Lori. "Lana, sweetie, why don't you give poor Lori a break and sit with me for a while?"

Taking this chance, Lana broke free from Lori's grasp and crawled over to her mother. Lori simply rolled her eyes and left the room, but the sigh she let out showed that she was more relieved than annoyed.

Lana curled up in her mother's lap, still crying. Rita sighed, and put her arm around the small girl.

"Now, Luan told me the full story. I'm really sorry about what happened to Hops…"

Lana flinched when she heard that name. In all this time, her rage against Lola almost overwhelmed her sadness over Hops, even though that was the root cause.

"But you can't attack your sister over it."

"But Mom, she-"

"I know what she did. And trust me, she will receive the grounding beyond all groundings. But she didn't mean for Hops to die. Even Lola isn't THAT cruel." Rita said, gently patting her daughter's back. "And hurting Lola won't make you feel better. It'll just make things even harder on us."

"No it wouldn't…" Lana said quietly, but with rage in her voice. Rita was shocked to hear that, but Lana continued before she could speak.

"Lola never does anything good here. She hurts us, she takes from us, she uses us… All she cares about are her stupid pageants , her dresses, and her crowns. She's nothing but a burden on our family, and we'd all be better off if that stupid BITCH would just DROP DEAD!"

Rita froze as soon as she heard that word. Nobody in the Loud House swore. Lori would sometimes use them among friends and the older girls, and Luna was sometimes given a free pass for song lyrics, but usually even the word "crap" was pushing it, especially for the younger kids. But never had Rita ever heard one of the girls used that language against each other.

Normally, Rita would go and grab the soap, but that wouldn't help right now. Lana was speaking out of anger, which came from grief. Punishing her for that would do more harm than good.

"Lana… I know Lola can be a real… well, what you said… but that is no excuse to try and hurt her like that. She's still your sister, and my daughter. And we both love her, even at her worst."

"Maybe you do…" Lana said bluntly"But I've had it with her. She's not my sister anymore, and she's definitely not my friend…"

"I'm not going to expect you to get over this so soon. But please, promise me that you'll keep yourself calm. If not for me, then for Hops?"

"…Ok."

"Alright. Now, Luan told me that Lucy is organizing a funeral. How about until then, you can go up to your room to be alone for a while?"

Lana looked up to her mother for the first time since they started talking and nodded. Her face was still red, and she had dark stains under her eyes from all of the crying. Rita could feel her heart break, seeing the face of any of her children in that condition.

Rita got up, still holding Lana close, and walked out of the room. She went to walk up the stairs, occasionally passing by one of her other children, who'd watch quietly. Rita took Lana into her and Lola's bedroom, which was thankfully empty. After setting her daughter down on her bed, she walked out, going to check with Lucy about this funeral to make sure it wouldn't make things worse.

Lana rolled on her bed, trying to get comfortable, but to no avail. She was then interrupted by the sound of something jumping onto the bed. Turning around, she saw a familiar green shape. Her pet lizard, Izzy.

Izzy looked at Lana and cocked her head. Even though she was a lizard, many noted that Izzy's behavior was almost very dog-like, especially her ability to care for her owner and notice when something was wrong.

Normally, Lana would enjoy Izzy's company right now. But instead, her eyes got wide and she backed away until she was against the wall.

"N-no, don't come near me!" Lana shouted "I-I don't want you get hurt too…"

Izzy didn't' seem to react to those words, and walked forward, trying to approach her master. Lana, however, moved to the other side of the bed, trying to avoid her.

"No, Izzy! Stay away! What's the point of being friends if one day you'll just leave me too!?"

Still not reacting, Izzy kept moving toward Lana. Desperate to make her stop, Lana grabbed a pillow, and threw it at the lizard, who flew back with it and landed near the other wall.

Lana, realizing what she had just done, panicked and jumped to the other side of the bed."

"Oh my gosh, Izzy, I'm so sorry!"

Thankfully, the poor thing was fine, just dazed. Lana picked her up and gave her a big hug.

"I-I just don't want to get hurt again… But I shouldn't have hurt you, I'm so sorry…"

 _ **7 hours later…**_

The sound of her door knocking woke Lana up. She had been curled up on her bed with Izzy in her arms, and didn't even really notice she felt asleep. She started to slowly get up, but began moving faster when the door knocked again.

Opening it up, she saw Lucy and Luna standing there. Lucy was dressed as normal, but Luna had swapped out her favorite purple shirt for a black Pink Fjord shirt.

"You ok, little dudette?" Luna asked in a somewhat motherly tone.

"I guess…"

"All of the preparations are complete for the funeral." Lucy said in… well, a Lucy tone. "Whenever you're prepared for the funeral, everyone is outside. Dad is home too."

"Ok… I'll be ready in a couple minutes…" Lana said. The two girls nodded and walked off as Lana shut the door.

Lana wanted to dress appropriately for the funeral, but didn't really have anything on hand. Her wardrobe was mostly overalls and t-shirts, and most of her selection wasn't there, since they were dirtied almost as fast as they were washed.

She had almost given up, before turning around and seeing the closet on the other side of the room, which had dresses of every color and varying levels of glittery-ness.

Normally that zone would be off-limits even to her, but Lana simply didn't care. Walking over and opening the closet, she looked through until she found something. A simple, short black dress with no glitter whatsoever. As much as she hated dresses, this would have to do. Honoring Hops was more important than personal comfort.

After changing, Lana held Izzy and walked out the door. Going downstairs, she stopped at the last few steps as she saw a line-up of her family standing outside the front door. Even though the funeral for a frog might seem insignificant to some, the Louds knew it was important for Lana. They all stood wearing their formal attire, even Lori and the parents. The only absent party was Lola, who Lana didn't want to think about, but was still upset to find that she wasn't there. Not that she could be blamed…

Lincoln, wearing a grey dress shirt and black pants, walked forward and looked his sister in the eye.

"Are you ready?"

Lana returned an unsure look, but then nodded. "Yeah. As ready as I can be."

Lincoln offered his hand, and Lana took it, walking down the remaining stairs and following him and the rest of the family out to the backyard.

In the backyard, under the tree, a small, rectangular hole had been dug into the ground, and next to it was a fairly high-quality wooden coffin. Many families would bury pets in shoeboxes or other such things, but not every family had Lucy, who knew all the ins and outs of funeral items, and Leni, who's ditzy attitude hid a mastery of carpentry and woodwork (nobody knows how or when she learned any of it). A podium was put next to the hole, which had a picture of Lana and Hops hugging on the front, although Lana found herself purposely avoiding that area with her eyes.

In front of the podium were rows of chairs, which most of the family sat in. The front row held four seats, four of which were reserved for Lana and her parents. Lincoln took Lana to her seat and began to walk to a back row, but the small hand refusing to release his hand told him that he was expected to take the fourth seat next to Lana, which he obliged.

Lucy, who was wearing mostly her normal attire aside from her striped stockings and sleeves, walked behind the podium and took her poetry notepad out. The young girl cleared her throat, getting the attention of the whole family.

"Friend and family, we are here to honor the life of one of our own. Today we lay to rest Sir Seymour Hops-a-lot Loud II, better known to his loved ones as Hops."

Lana remembered how she named Hops after Seymour, another frog, but one who didn't actually exist. Once she had fooled Lincoln into believing that said frog was "taken out" by Lola to teach him a lesson, but she had never owned a frog before Hops.

Oh, how horribly cruel irony could be.

"Hops was a great frog." Lucy continued. "A good friend, a good pet, and a beauty pageant winner, along with his beloved owner and best friend." The goth girl looked to Lana, who still seemed depressed and uneasy. "If she would like, I would invite her to speak on Hops' behalf now."

Lana looked to the ground, not making eye contact with Lucy… well, eye-to-bang contact. She was unsure what to do. Just thinking about Hops hurt her, she didn't know if she could talk about him in front of her whole family. Izzy sat gently in her lap, not being particularly squirmy. The lizard was curled up close to her, almost as Lana was to her own mother earlier.

Lincoln watched Lana, seeing her act nervous and quiet. It pained him to see one of his most hyperactive and overall happy sisters in this mood. However, an idea came to him.

"Hold on a moment." The boy said, getting up and walking back into the house. Lana looked up and watched him, a bit upset that he was no longer sitting beside her for comfort. But her father put a hand on her shoulder, letting her know that she was far from alone.

A moment later, Lincoln walked back out. On his shoulder sat Walt the canary, and around his arm was El Diablo, or Lucifer, Lola's pet snake. In Lincoln's hand he held Bitey the rat (who El Diablo knew not to eat). And behind the boy came Charles the dog, Cliff the cat, and Geo the hamster, in his hamster ball. Even Lucy's pet bat Fangs and Luan's rabbit Gary were with him.

"I just felt that the _whole_ family should be here." Lincoln said, smiling and looking toward Lana. "They'd all want to be here for Lana."

Lana immediately felt stronger after seeing that. All of the animals were important to her, even the ones owned by the other girls. Being able to see all of them, as well as the wonderful and amazing brother who brought them out here, relit the fire that had been slowly going out in her all day.

Turning to Lucy, Lana stood up and nodded. The goth moved aside, standing by as Lana walked over and took the stand, putting Izzy gently down on it.

"Th-thank you…" Lana said, still feeling some nerves.

"Hops was my friend. One of my best friends… And I miss him a lot." Lana said, choking back some tears. "But I don't think he'd want me to be sad. Hops was always happiest when I was happy too, and the other way around, too. So even though I still feel very sad, I'm going to do my best to be happy. To look back on all of the fun we had, all the playtime and adventures we had."

Stepping away, Lana want over to the wooden coffin. Kneeling down before it, she shed a few tears as she rest a hand on the coffin.

"Goodbye, Hops. I hope there's a nice, big swamp up there with plenty of mud to play in…"

Standing back up, Lana looked toward Lucy, silently giving her the go-head. Nodding in understanding, Lucy walked to the other end of the coffin. Together, the two lifted it, and slowly began lowering it into the hole. As they did, the family stood up in respect. However, Luna and Luan moved from their seats and moved closer.

Luna was holding bagpipes, which most of the Louds didn't even know she owned, and Luan held… a kazoo? Together they began to play Amazing Grace. While a kazoo was an odd accompaniment, the sentiment was still touching.

Lana personally began filling the hole as the song played, finishing almost in time with it. Lucy held a wooden cross, and gently placed it in the dirt behind the grave to mark it. On a small wooden sign at the bottom of the cross was burned, likely by Lynn Sr.:

 **Here lies Hops**

 **2010-2017**

As the funeral came to an end, the Louds picked up their holding chairs, giving them to Lynn Sr. to take into the garage. As they did, Rita walked over to Lana and smiled.

"You did very well, sweetie. Hops would be proud." She said, patting Lana's head, which made her smile back. "Now, how about we go and have a big dinner? And I made your favorite for dessert... mud pies with gummy worms!"

"No way! With real mud!?" The little girl said enthusiastically.

Rita laughed. "Umm, no. Still not doing that." But she offered her hand to Lana, who happily took it, and the two walked inside.

 _ **The end.**_

* * *

 **Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark,**  
 **For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart,**  
 **To weave by picking up the pieces that remain,**  
 **Melodies of life - love's lost refrain.**

 **Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why.**  
 **We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye.**  
 **And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told?**  
 **Let them ring out loud till they unfold.**

 **In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me.**  
 **Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name.**

 **A voice from the past, joining yours and mine.**  
 **Adding up the layers of harmony.**  
 **And so it goes, on and on.**  
 **Melodies of life,**  
 **To the sky beyond the flying birds - forever and beyond.**

 **This story is dedicated to all pets, both those still in this world and those departed, and to the humans who have loved them. May these magical creatures continue to fill our lives with love and joy, even if sometimes humanity may not deserve it.**

* * *

From the window, a young pair of eyes watched as her family sat down in the backyard. As the only boy left and returned with a small army of animals. As a coffin was lowered into a grave. And as they gathered to come back inside.

She watched all of it, but kept her attention on one girl, the one that looked just like her, wearing her dress.

" _Lola never does anything good here…"_ Those words echoed in the young girl's head. _"She hurts us, she takes from us, she uses us… All she cares about are her stupid pageants , her dresses, and her crowns."_ She remembered hearing these words rise from the bathroom vent. She remembered that she had just stopped crying, but was now starting again.

" _She's nothing but a burden on our family, and we'd all be better off if that stupid BITCH would just DROP DEAD!"_

The tears came back once more. Those words hurt a lot. But what hurt the most was that, after stewing over them for hours, Lola decided…

Maybe Lana is right…


	6. The McBrides

**Just my luck. I'm already a slow writer, and the power in most of my town was out for nearly 4 days. :\ But during that time, I plotted out a little side-story to give my brain some work while waiting for the next episode wave. Sorry for those hoping to see the continuation of the "Twin Saga", but don't you worry, Lola is next. I won't neglect our favorite little princess.**

 **Anyway, let's move a bit down the street, both physically and in time, and check out two characters I like that don't get much screen time: Harold and Howard McBride.**

* * *

 _ **The McBrides: Finding Love**_

* * *

The year was 2005. The summer had been kind in Michigan, but autumn was beginning to creep in. Leaves were changing color, and shorts and sandals were slowly being traded out for jackets and scarves.

The day had, thankfully, been rather slow at St. Adrien's Hospital in Royal Woods. The occasional person with a cough or cold, some check-ups, but nothing major. Even the maternity wing was seeing little along the lines of business.

But just before his shift was ending, Dr. Howard McBride, an obstetritian, walked into a room and saw his two favorite "clients", who had specifically asked for him.

"Oh, Lynnard! It's so good to see you again!" the man said cheerfully, shaking the hand of the man standing by the door.

"It's a pleasure to see you again too, Howard." Lynn Sr. said with a smile. Stepping to the side, he allowed the doctor over to the bed in the room, to where a pregnant Rita was laying.

"And Rita, you look younger every time I see you!" rather than a handshake, Howard leaned in to give the woman a hug. Rita leaned forward a bit to meet the hug, though she carefully grabbed her belly. Looking down to it, Howard smiled again.

"My, my, my, you just can't keep your hands to yourself, can you two?" Howard said with a chuckle. "This is the sixth one, right? How is she coming along?"

"You haven't even checked yet, doc, how do you know it's a she?" Lynnard said, to which he received a rather sarcastic look from the doctor. "…Yeah, you're right. But I'm not gonna give up hope of having a little son one day!"

Rita laughed. "Honey, when Lynn was born you gave up and named HER after yourself, instead of waiting to see if we had a boy."

"Yes, I remember that." Howard joined in, "I specifically remember saying 'It's a girl!', only for you to break down and say 'THAT'S IT, THIS ONE IS LYNN JR., I'M TIRED OF WAITING!'"

Lynnard tried to reply in his defense, but closed his mouth and gave a fake grunt of anger. "Well, I guess we'll have to think of a new boy's name just in case. How about Leif? Loki? Lexx?"

"No, honey. One of those sounds like a Viking, and the other two sound like supervillains from those Ace Savvy comics you were into as a kid." Rita replied. "But let's worry about potential names later, right now we should let Howard do the check-up so he can get back home. Oh, how is Harold, by the way?"

Howard smiled upon hearing the name of his boyfriend, now fiancé. "Oh, he's doing fine. He's really anxious, though. He really wants our dream wedding to happen, but… well, you know…" he trailed off as he began preparing an ultrasound.

Lynn Sr. and Rita nodded to each other. Even though they were fairly religious, they were always very accepting, and had no issue with homosexuality. The fact that there are people out there who think they can decide that somebody's love is invalid or doesn't count… that very thought made Lynnard angry.

"Don't worry, Howard. It won't be long before those idiots in office get replaced by some decent folks who let your dreams come true."

"Yeah, I hope so…"

Howard was performing the ultrasound, but it would take about half an hour to complete. During that time, they continued to chat. They talked about Howard and Harold moving in together and their plans for their wedding, whenever they could have it. Rita and Lynnard told stories about their six girls, two of which he had helped deliver after he began working at the hospital. They talked about Lori's first strong friendship with a little girl named Carol, Luna's abnormally great xylophone skills, and about Luan discovering the wonderful world of whoopee cushions.

"So, do you and Harry see kids in your future?" Rita asked. That question made Howard completely freeze up for a moment.

"Golly, I don't know. I love kids, and I've certainly thought about it, but Harold and I weren't quite sure about it. We thought about waiting until we could adopt as a couple…"

"They won't let you adopt kids together, either?" Lynnard almost shouted. "Man, I hate that! Why can't they just let people be happy!?"

That made Howard smile. One of the things that helped build the friendship between himself and the Louds was their acceptance. At first he thought Lynn Sr. was trying a little _too_ hard to sound tolerant, but he quickly learned that he's just that vocal and upfront about everything. The man's name IS Loud, after all.

However, before he had the chance to respond, the ultrasound image came in. Howard took a look for himself, making sure that no irregularities or other concerns showed themselves, and then he turned the screen so that the couple could see it as well.

"Oh my..." Rita said, rendered speechless. "I know this is the sixth time I've seen this, but... it's never been any less amazing."

Lynnard held his wife's hand. "Everything's ok that you can see, right doc?"

"Yep. It's a perfectly healthy baby. I expected nothing less." he said with a smile.

After admiring the ultrasound a while longer, Howard performed a few more check-ups before he finished up and assisted Rita off of the bed.

"Well, thanks so much again, Howard." Lynn Sr. said, reaching his hand out. "Sorry for being such frequent visitors."

"Oh no, don't you apologize to me. It makes me happy to see such a happy couple and their growing family." Howard replied as he shook the hand. "Now, you all have a wonderful day. And take good care of your newest little one."

The doctor stood there and watched as the Loud couple left the hospital. Although his smile was genuine, it faded once they left. He never really got the topics they discussed out of his head.

"No, don't worry yourself about it, Howard. Brooding over it won't do anything right now." He said to himself as he walked back to his office to prepare for the trip home

 _ **About 40 minutes later…**_

As Howard walked through his door, he called out "Hare-Bear, I'm home!" in his best sitcom husband impression. As he did, his fiancé Harold Brady walked out, wearing a messy apron.

Harold waited until Howard took off his doctor's coat, and then embraced him.

"How was your day, Howie?"

"Oh, just fine. The Louds came in for a check-up today."

"Oh, Rita and Lynnard? I haven't seen them in a while. How are they? Does little Lori still got a thing for me?"

"They're fine. They're next little one is due in the next couple weeks. And I've heard Lori's eye is on a boy a bit closer to her age now. Bobby something-or-other."

"Guess you don't gotta worry about the competition now." Harold responded before lifting himself to kiss the taller man.

Howard returned the kiss, before he felt whatever was on the apron get pushed onto his shirt.

"Well, guess I have to clean this shirt again. What is this, anyhow?"

"Oh, I forgot I was wearing this!" Harold said as he went to grab a towel and wipe it off with. "I was just making one of my grandmother's pie recipes, and I must've been messy with the dough."

"Oh no, not one of your grandmother's recipes!" Howard said in a sarcastically dramatic tone. "I loved the woman while I knew her, God rest her soul, but she was a mad scientist in the kitchen!"

Harold chuckled. "Don't worry; this one is just sweet potato pie. No roadkill gumbo or gator jerky today." He looked to a picture on their fireplace mantle which showed a young Harold on his grandmother's mantle. She was very fond of the bayou cooking she learned from her own mother, and retained the recipes even after moving up north from Louisiana to Michigan.

"Sweet potato pie..." Howard said to himself as he pulled Harold into another hug, ignoring the apron. "Boy, did I pick the right man to get engaged to."

Harold smiled and returned the hug. "Likewise." However, he took a sniff of the air. "GREAT GOOD HEAVENS, THE PIE!" he yelled as he ran into the kitchen.

Howard sighed and smiled to himself as he headed into the living room, knowing Harold would finish dinner more easily without more distractions.

 _ **A while later…**_

"Mmm, this pie is delicious, Hare-Bear." Howard said, barely waiting to swallow his first bite before responding.

"I told you my grandmother could cook." Harold replied with a grin.

"I owe her an apology, then. All the squirrel kebobs and mystery meat stews were worth it to find this gem."

Howard continued eating, but the topic he'd been thinking about all day popped back up. Stopping for a moment, he put his fork down and looked up to Harold."

"Say, Harold…" he said nervously. "When I was with the Louds, I had gotten to thinking…"

"What is it, Howie?"

"We never really discussed the topic… but what do you see in our future regarding… kids?"

Hearing that word, Harold choked on his food. After a moment, he finally managed to swallow it down.

"Great gumdrops, Howard, that topic came out of nowhere."

"I know, I know." Howard said nervously, "But I realized that it's a fairly important thing that we never talked about."

"I suppose you're right. Well, while I hadn't really thought of it much, I've never been OPPOSED to the idea of adoption. But I figured it'd be best to wait until we could be married before worrying about it."

Howard nodded. "Perhaps you're right, Hare-Bear. Sorry for scaring you like that. I've just... always looked forward to being a father, but pushed it aside a bit until I saw Rita and Lynnard today."

"Don't you apologize for it, Howie. The idea of fatherhood seems very nice to me, too. Except for the diapers... And the vomit... And the crying... But I can deal with all that one day."

The couple shared a good laugh as they continued their dinner. Howard showed relief that Harold wasn't opposed to the potential idea, and his dreams of fatherhood continued, with his beloved now at his side in all of them.

 _ **About 3 and a half weeks later...**_

Back at St. Adrien's Hospital, Howard was walking through the ER, preparing for a long day of work. He had no appointments for today, which meant he'd likely be relegated to clinic duty if no emergencies came u-

Just before that thought could end, a woman was quickly brought into the building on a wheelchair by paramedics. She was African-American, with curly black hair and fair features. She couldn't have been older than 22, 23 at most, but she was fairly short for her age. And looking at her stomach, she appeared to be VERY pregnant.

"Doctor, doctor!" the paramedic yelled. Howard couldn't remember the young man's name. "This woman is going into labor, we need a delivery room right away!"

"Of course, of course!" Howard shouted. He directed some nurses to help the woman into a stretcher and follow him into a delivery room.

"Cervix is dilated 5 cm, contractions are approximately 9 minutes apart." the paramedic said to Howard as the initial set-up was being done by the nurses.

"Thanks for getting her here so fast." Howard patted the man's shoulder. He nodded and turned around, leaving to go back to his other duties.

As Howard began to prep himself for delivery, he could hear the woman begin screaming as another contraction occurred. Ordering a nurse to help decrease the pain, Howard went over to the end of the bed where the woman's legs were propped up.

"Ok, darling, it's time. I need you to push!"

She complied, screaming as she did.

"The head's coming out! The hardest part's just about done, but push a bit more!" Howard yelled.

"Push!"

...

A few moments later, Howard was holding a crying baby in his hands. Although there was still quite a mess on him, Howard still found himself enthralled by the small creature, as he did with every baby he delivered.

These days, cutting the umbilical cord was an honor often given to the partner, parent, or other significant individual who accompanied the mom-to-be, but since this young woman came in alone, Howard cut the cord himself.

Smiling big enough to be noticed despite his mask, he got up and took the baby over to it's mother.

"Congratulations, ma'am. It's a beautiful baby boy." he said as he kneeled down, allowing her to take the baby.

"Oh... he's even more wonderful than I imagined." the woman responded. Howard realized that this was the first time he'd heard her speak so far.

After holding the baby for a few moments, a nurse came to take the baby to be cleaned and more thoroughly checked. During this time, Howard removed his mask and gloves, washed his hands, and sat down near the woman's bed.

"I hope you don't mind me sticking around, but I like to introduce myself to my patients. I'm Howard McBride."

The woman smiled weakly at him, still tired from childbirth. "I don't mind at all, doctor. I'm Bonnie Ross."

Howard found himself smiling too. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bonnie. I don't believe I've seen you around before, do you live here in the Royal Woods area?"

"I only just moved here recently. I'm originally from Detroit, but moved here to find a better place for the baby. I don't want him exposed to polluted city air and the high crime rates."

"I see... Sorry if this is too personal, but is the father here as well? We'll need him to sign the birth certificate if he is."

Bonnie's smile vanished. "No... I'll be perfectly honest, I wasn't with him that long when this happened. I made a stupid choice, and when I told him that I had gotten pregnant, his apartment was empty a week later..."

"I'm so sorry to hear that..." Howard replied. Sadly, he was used to hearing stories of single mothers. It seemed like a close parental unit like the Louds became rarer every year.

"Oh, don't be sorry. If that's the kind of man he is, I say I'm better off this way." Bonnie allowed her smile to return, although Howard noted that it looked a little forced. "Oh my, that's a lovely ring you've got there, doctor. I guess you found yourself a lucky someone, eh?."

Howard looked confused before looking down at his finger. He'd forgotten to take off his engagement ring before the delivery again. He's still not used to it, and he'd loathe himself if he allowed it to get lost in a glove one day. But he pushed that aside for now.

"Yep, although I'd argue that I'm the lucky one."

As time went on, Howard and Bonnie talked about themselves. Howard talked about Harold and their recent engagement. Bonnie talked about herself. A concern came up when her nose started bleeding, but she pointed outside to where a handsome, blonde male nurse was standing.

"It's weird, but I have a habit of getting nosebleeds when I see a hot young man." she giggled. "Don't know why. It's always cute blonde dudes, too."

As she and Howard laughed, the nurse who carried the baby off came back and handed him to Bonnie, who held him very tenderly. Howard gave her a moment before speaking back up.

"So, do you have a name for that little cutie?"

"I've thought of one, but you gotta promise not to make fun of it."

Howard held up his pinkie "I promise, now what is it?"

"I was thinking... Clyde."

"Clyde? That's a perfectly fine name, why would I make fun o-" Howard froze, a thought suddenly hitting him. "Oh... If you named him that, you'd be..."

"Bonnie and Clyde. Yep." she said with a youthful grin.

"Well, I can't tell you I don't think that's weird as heck, but if you like it, I say go for it." Howard said.

"Alright then, Clyde he'll be." Bonnie said as she looked back down at him. "Little Clyde. You'll be such a lady-killer when you gro-AHHHH!"

Howard jumped up immediately upon hearing her shout.

"Bonnie!? Bonnie, what's wrong!?"

"M-my stomach..."

As Bonnie began screaming and the screaming caused Clyde to start crying, Howard began checking her stomach. A few nurses came in, and Howard barked at one to take Clyde.

"She's hemorrhaging! We need to stop the bleeding, stat!"

Bonnie listened to the doctor's shouting and the beeping of the machine measuring her heartrate. However, she couldn't fight off the deep exhaustion she was feeling, and eventually passed out.

Eventually, Bonnie felt herself wake up. Opening her eyes, she looked around to see herself in a different hospital room. She tried to get up, but felt far too weak to manage, and fell back down onto the bed.

"Hey, don't try to move too much!" a familiar voice said. Bonnie turned to see Dr. McBride standing there, and felt more at ease upon seeing him.

"Wh... what happened? H-how long was I..."

"A day and a half or so. You had a hemorrhage. Happens sometimes after childbirth. It was a really bad one, but thankfully we stopped the bleeding and did a transfusion. You'll be stuck here for a few days, but you'll make a full recovery."

"Th-that's good... Clyde! Where's Cl-Clyde?"

Howard smiled. "He's perfectly fine. He's still in the nursery, waiting for his Mommy."

Bonnie looked down for a moment. Howard was about to say something, but she started first.

"Listen, doctor. I was thinking before, but now I'm pretty sure... M-maybe I should put Clyde up for adoption..."

"Adoption?" Howard gasped. "But you seemed so happy to have him before! Why do you feel you need to give him up?"

"I've got quite a few health issues. Before the pregnancy I was pretty underweight. I've got asthma, I've got more allergies than I can count, I've got eyesight problems... Finding a job that will take me is very rare." Bonnie sighed.

"You don't have family that can help you?" Howard said.

"My parents were the ones who wanted me to put my baby up for adoption, so they probably wouldn't help me raise him..."

Howard felt defeated. He hated the idea of Bonnie feeling like she couldn't raise Clyde, but he realized that she did have a point. A single mother who can't work would have a very hard time just making her own ends meet.

"I can get you the paperwork, but... are you absolutely SURE? You don't think it may just be postpartum depression?"

Bonnie nodded. "I'm sure. I thought about this for a while. I love Clyde, so very much, but I want him to have the best life possible, and living in near-homelessness with me isn't that."

"Well... ok, then... You can still hold him one more time though, if you'd like."

"Yes, I'd like that very much." Bonnie said.

Howard had a nurse bring Clyde in. He watched as Bonnie held him, and watched as she began to cry. She told Clyde she loved him, and would always love him.

But then an idea came to him. Bonnie looked up as Howard excused himself from the room, and pulled a flip phone from his jacket.

In about 20 minutes, Bonnie saw another man appear outside of the room with Dr. McBride. He was African-American like herself, shorter and a bit wider than the other man. He didn't appear to be a doctor, since he was wearing a sweater vest and bowtie instead of a white coat.

They talked for a while, and then the two men walked in. Howard walked up to Bonnie.

"Bonnie, this is my fiancee, Harold." as he said that Harold, walked forward as well.

"It's nice to meet you, sweetie." Harold said with a smile. Something about his smile was infectious, as it made Bonnie smile back.

"Listen..." Howard started again. "If you're sure about putting your son up for adoption, we were wondering if... maybe... perhaps... possibly..." he started going on nervously.

"Howie, calm down." Harold said, patting the taller man on the back.

Howard breathed deeply, relaxing himself for a moment.

"Bonnie... If you'd allow us, we'd like to volunteer ourselves to adopt Clyde."

Bonnie was speechless. She looked down at Clyde, who was resting peacefully in her arms, and then she looked back up to Howard and Harold, who looked nervous but determined.

"R-really? You barely know me, doctor... b-but you'd adopt my son?"

"Well, Harold and I had been thinking about adoption for a while... And I promise you, we would take very good care of Clyde. You could even stay in his life, if you'd like."

Bonnie became trapped in thought for a while. Although she had just met Dr. McBride, he was a very nice man. He and his fiancee were certainly well off, and the offer to still know Clyde was very difficult to pass up.

"O-ok..." she finally said. "I'd make me very happy to have such fine people raise my son."

Howard and Harold had no idea how to react. So many strong emotions surged through them. Excitement and joy primarily, but there were still tinges of nervousness and even fear. But those melted away when Bonnie invited Howard to hold the baby.

Looking down on their soon-to-be adopted son Howard couldn't help but tear up.

"He's perfect..."

Harold watched the scene as well. Any fear he had of raising a messy, stinky baby vanished upon the sight of his beloved Howie holding the baby.

"Which of us should adopt him?" Howard asked. "I mean, since we can't do it as a couple yet..."

Harold smiled. "Like that's any question. You deserve the honor. Besides, I'm taking your last name when we get married, so he'd have it anyway."

"Clyde McBride..." Howard said to himself. "It even rhymes. How fitting."

Bonnie, Howard, and Harold all silenty appreciated the scene a while longer, until the cute blonde male nurse came in, giving Bonnie a small nosebleed.

"Doctor, I know you're done for the day, but there's a patient that requested to see you."

Howard nodded. Gently giving little Clyde to Harold, he walked over and offered Bonnie a hug, which she gladly accepted.

"I'm sorry to run, but duty calls, you know." he smiled and waved to all three as he walked out.

"HOWARD! THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE HERE!"

Howard looked over to the waiting room. Lynnard Loud was standing there, next to his wife Rita, who was in a wheelchair and wincing in pain. In the play area by them was a small entourage of cute little girls with blonde or brown hair, the oldest of which was holding the youngest.

"Rita's in labor, the baby is coming any minute!"

Howard called for his nurses and ran over to the couple.

"Don't worry, folks." he said with a smile. "Your newest daughter will be here very soon."

 _The Beginning._

* * *

 **I'll have to apologize for any medical mistakes I've made in this episode. I researched quite a bit on some topics, but ultimately my personal knowledge is mostly limited to "TV Medicine" from shows like House, so things were probably faster and more extreme than is realistic.**

 **But this one was a challenge for me besides that. I went through so many different plots and outcomes for this story. At one point I had thought to have Clyde's mom be revealed as Dr. Lopez, but felt that their relationship in the show was too distant for that to feel right.**

 **Off-topic, though, I was kind of shocked when I looked up LGBT rights in Michigan to determine the marriage status and adoption ability of the McBrides at this time period. To see that both were still impossible by then was a bit appalling. I didn't intend to inject politics into the story, but I did end up reflecting some of my own thoughts into Lynn Sr. at the beginning.**

 **But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the story. Sorry an update took so long even by my standards. Hopefully writer's block doesn't rear it's ugly head and Lola's tale comes sooner. Until then, friends!**


	7. Lola

**You know, I didn't realize I was using the word "love" so much in my titles at first. I was going to try and change it once I noticed, but then I thought about it. Four-letter word starting with L, and it can be used to represent the bond felt by family. That was too perfect to get rid of. Although now it's actually tricky to think of titles that fit the scheme.**

 **Just a little bit about my insane thought process. Now, I'm sure you're here about Lola…**

* * *

 _ **Lola: Nobody Loves Me…**_

* * *

It's been nearly 2 months since Hops' death. For a majority of the family, it was mostly pushed to the back of their memory. However, for three of them, the incident was still stuck in their thoughts.

Lana had accepted the loss with the support of her family, especially her brother Lincoln. But of course, she still mourned. She visited Hops' grave daily if she could, every other day at minimum. But after a few days, the crying during her visits stopped. She instead talked to Hops about positive things.

Lincoln's thoughts still lingered on it. He'd occasionally go with Lana to visit Hops' grave. He'd find himself reminiscing about how he and Lana helped to save a bunch of frogs from his science class. Hops was actually an invaluable ally in that cause. And in some other animal rescues he and Lana perpetrated afterwards. But most of all, he was worried about the lingering impact that his all had on…

Lola. She had been grounded for a month after the incident. No pageants, no mob movies, no tea parties, no Bluebell meetings, no NOTHING. She couldn't even wear tiaras or make-up until her time was up. Her life for the next 30 days was pretty much breakfast, driven to school and back by Lori, dinner, sleep, repeat.

Of course, this was terrible. Lola Loud isn't Lola Loud when her wardrobe is limited to hand-me-down shirts and pants from Lori and Leni. (the only two who's fashion was acceptable enough for Lola to accept hand-me-downs from)

But really this was nothing compared to what she overheard on that crazy day…

 ** _58 days ago…_**

Her mind was still reeling over what just happened. She had been sitting there, simply drinking some apple juice (her favorite fake tea), when _she_ appeared.

Even though they were the same size, Lana seemed twice as large and twice as strong when the attack happened. Lola had grown afraid when Lana grabbed her arm, but nothing prepared her for the first punch. Right in her eye, and it knocked her to the floor. She remembered screaming and raising her arms in self-defense, but nothing stopped Lana. She jumped down on her, pinning her arms down, striking her in the face repeatedly. She even began CHOKING her. But thankfully, several of Lola's siblings came to her defense.

She remembered Lincoln telling her why it happened. How could she know Hops would get out and be hit by a car!? Lola was mean, sure, but she was no killer!

After their mom came home, Lola went to upstairs, half-dragging herself up them. Her face was bruised. She had a nasty black eye. There was a red stain from her nostrils to her chin. And one of her teeth chipped (thankfully she still had all baby teeth). She went to the bathroom, hoping to clean herself up as best she could.

But as she did, she could hear words rising from the bathroom vent. They had to be coming from her parents' room…

"… _hurting Lola won't make you feel better. It'll just make things even harder on us."_

She heard her mother's voice. Lola could guess that she was trying to talk to Lana. There was a small pause. Lola hoped Lana would be calmed down and accept her mother's point.

" _No, it wouldn't..."_

Lola froze when she heard that voice. What did Lana mean by that?

" _Lola never does anything good here. She hurts us, she takes from us, she uses us…"_

Lola was absolutely stunned. Is that… what Lana thinks about her?

" _All she cares about are her stupid pageants , her dresses, and her crowns."_

That's not true… is it? Is that was Lola makes her family think about her? That she doesn't care?

" _She's nothing but a burden on our family…"_

A burden?

"… _and we'd all be better off if that stupid BITCH would just DROP DEAD!"_

Lola covered her mouth. Her wounded eye began to sting badly. She wondered why, before she could feel something wet underneath it. Tears…

How could Lana say all of that? How could she use _THAT_ word? Lola only ever heard that word on television, and people only said that about the worst women they knew. Was Lola really that bad?

Lola looked back. She bought Lincoln his gross underpants. That was a good thing, right? ...Well, that was only because she unfairly forced him to bet against all 10 of his sisters…

She covered for all her siblings' secret wrongdoings. That got her in a lot of trouble! But… that wasn't just a good deed. She just wanted to know more of their secrets, but they stopped trusting her. She traded some secrets for many more…

Oh God… is Lana right? Is Lola really that selfish? Is she only good for pageant winnings and looking good in public?

The tears kept flowing… She didn't even pay attention to the rest of the conversation after hearing the B-word. She couldn't believe she was acting this way. She couldn't believe she did this to Lana. She couldn't believe she's been… yes. She decided she was, in fact, a bitch.

The next few days were a blur. Lana had stopped sleeping in the bedroom, and she moved her pets to the basement. She'd either sleep in Lincoln's room, or sometimes in Lynn and Lucy's, since Lana just about idolized Lynn. While not every Loud sister was particularly feminine, Lynn and Lana bonded over being the two true tomboys of the group, and Lana looked up to her for being so strong and athletic that even all-boys teams begged her to play for them.

At first, the twins would both avoid each other. Sister Fight Protocol was still in effect, although they weren't really fighting. After a while, Lana entered the bedroom and went to return Lola's formal black dress to the closet. But Lola's reaction surprised herself.

She hadn't really paid much mind to it, since it was just like any other time they had an arugment or fought. But as soon as she saw Lana, and was paralyzed and unable to move, like she'd watched a burglar walk in, she knew...

Lola was deathly afraid of her.

After that, the protocol ended, but neither made any effort to communicate. Lana still slept elsewhere, but no longer actively avoided Lola. She was willing to go into a room she was in.

Lola, however, was the opposite. Having realized her fear, she'd leave the room whenever her twin sister entered, and she'd avoid being near her or crossing her path whenever possible. The only times this was impossible was at school and during dinner, but in both cases Lola would sit as far from her sister as possible.

Eventually, a month had passed. The grounding was lifted, and the first thing Lola did was find a pageant to enter. There was one in a few weeks. Plenty of time to prepare herself. And over time, Lola began to act like herself a bit more, though something was still off. She rarely yelled at or threatened her siblings, and she spent more time than usual alone in her room practicing.

Nobody else in the family particularly seemed to notice or care. Nobody except one, of course. The one person who could always tell when something was wrong.

And so, at the Loud siblings' normal weekly meeting...

"Guys, there's something I need to ask you about..."

Lincoln stood up, facing nine of his ten sisters. Lola being the only absence, as had been the norm lately.

"...It's about Lola." Lincoln immediately looked to Lana, but didn't really notice a reaction. He'd expected to see a twinge of anger or disappointment.

"Yeah, what about her?" said Lori, the leader of the group (by her own demand, as always when a leader is needed).

"Hasn't anyone else felt that she's been acting weird lately? I mean, she hasn't been quite as angry as usual. I can't remember the last time I heard her yell."

"I'm literally failing to see the issue here, Linc." Lori replied impatiently.

"Ok, I know it SOUNDS good, but Lola isn't being... well, Lola. I think something's up with her." Lincoln stated. "Shouldn't we check up on her or something?"

Unfortunately, he was met with silence.

"Look, Lincoln." Lori continued. "She kille-" she stopped as she looked over at Lana, though the younger girl didn't seem to notice anything. "She did something bad, she was grounded for a month… it's a lot she's had to deal with. All she needs is time to recover, and she'll be fine."

"…I guess you might be right." Lincoln replied, although it was clear to all of them that he wasn't mentally dropping it. He sat back down, and they continued their discussions.

 ** _Present day…_**

It was the day of the pageant. Lola had gotten up early, gotten dressed, had breakfast, and then put on her make-up.

"You ready for your big return?" her father asked, as he was getting ready to drive her there.

"I was born ready." Lola said in her trademark arrogant tone. Her father smiled, though. That was a sign that she was getting better.

As the two walked to the front door, Lynn Sr. turned around, addressing the family, who were dispersed around the house, though all in earshot.

"Everyone wish your sister good luck!"

"Good luck, Lola!" several voices shouted back, though some of them didn't sound genuine. Not everyone was over what Lola did. And of course, Lana's voice was not heard at all.

Normally, Lola would remark with something smug like "Luck? I don't need luck when I look this good!"

But all that was heard from the girl was a rather shy "Th-thanks, everyone…"

With that, Lola and Lynn Sr. left the house and got into Vanzilla. Lola was about to get into the 2nd row, the "Sweet Spot", when her father's voice interrupted her.

"Hey, why don't you get in the front seat next to me?"

She was confused. Usually, the Loud parents preferred that the youngest children always take a back seat. Lincoln was the oldest child permitted to sit up front, and even that wasn't very common.

"Don't worry. I haven't had an issue in over 30 years of driving. You're perfectly safe. I just enforce that rule to calm your mother down." He said with a smile.

Nodding, Lola closed the back door to the van, and instead went around to the other side, getting into the passenger seat. After she buckled her seat belt, her father started the van and began driving.

They drove for a few moments before Lynn Sr. spoke up.

"So, how are you feeling today, Lola? Everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything's alright, Dad. Why?"

"Well, it's just that you haven't seemed to be acting like yourself lately. Some of us are a little worried for you."

"Umm..." Lynnard raised an eyebrow upon hearing that moment of hesitation. "I mean, I'm ok. Really. Nothing's wrong."

"Lola... I've been at this parenting gig for a little over 18 years now. Maybe I'm thinking a little highly of myself, but I like to think that I can tell that something's wrong." Lynn turned to Lola, and could see a bit of hesitation on her face.

"It's Lana, isn't it?" he said. "Still haven't made up, yet?"

Lola didn't respond for a moment.

"N-no, we haven't..." she finally said.

"Well, don't worry, kiddo. You'll both come around. This is just gonna take some time, y'know?"

"I guess..."

Lynnard pulled into the driveway of the building in which the pageant was taking place. He got out and opened the door for Lola. After she got out, he helped her unwrinkle her dress from the seatbelt, and they both headed in.

Now, Lola's father had taken her to a few pageants. However, he never quite figured everything out. All he could see were little girls running around, wearing enough make-up to give that Burpin' Burger clown a run for his money, making their hair giant and wearing glittery clothes. Quite honestly, he thought half of them looked like creepy supermodels that were shrunk down like those voodoo heads, and standing around among them and all the stuffy pageant moms made him uncomfortable.

However, this was what Lola loved. And if it made one of his children happy, he'd do it a hundred times without a single complaint.

Holding Lola's hand to ensure she didn't get lost in the swarm just yet, Lynnard went to the dressing room with her to help her get ready.

 ** _Meanwhile, at the Loud House…_**

"Mom, we still have the Princess Channel, right?" Lincoln's voice could be heard from the living room

"Yes, I believe we do… Wait… why?" Rita didn't quite expect to hear Lincoln ever ask about the Princess Channel. She peeked into the living room, watching her son surf through channels.

"Well, Lola's pageant is supposed to be televised on it, and I want to watch."

Finally, the TV stopped on a channel with a big, sparkly pink logo in the corner, and it was showing the opening credits for the "Little Miss Lake Michigan" pageant. This must be it, Lincoln and Rita both thought.

"So, why are you watching Lola's pageant?" Rita asked as she sat on the couch with Lincoln. "I didn't think you'd care to watch a couple hours of this sort of thing, especially after you pulled that 'bad luck' stunt a while back."

"…Well, truthfully, Mom..." Lincoln said. "I'm still worried about Lola. She hasn't been herself ever since Hopsageddon… that's what Lynn and I call it, anyway."

"Yeah, I know what you mean…" Rita added. "I've been worried too. But I'm hoping that maybe after winning another pageant, she might return to her old self again… may God have mercy on our souls."

"Oh hey, is that Lola's pageant?" Luna's voice came from behind them.

"Yeah, we're watching it to see if she's alright."

"Mind if I join? I'm worried about her too. Plus I've always kinda wondered what these things are like." After receiving a nod of approval from the other two, Luna hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to Lincoln. (although Rita hates when the older kids do that).

As is normal when three or more Louds are doing something together, the rest of the family was drawn like a magnet. Five minutes passed, and now there were ten bodies gathered in front of the TV, watching the beginning of the pageant. The girls (and Lincoln) on the couch tried to get comfortable, while those seated on the rest of the furniture and on the floor tried to find the optimal view of the television.

Eventually, the final Loud, Lana, descended from the stairs, wondering where her family was. She stood, looking at the TV, until Rita turned around and noticed her.

"Oh, there you are, Lana. Do you want to watch Lola's pageant with us?"

Most of the Loud kids looked like they were ready to run, like their mother's words might've set off a bomb. However, all Lana said was…

"Ok." And she found herself a spot on the floor, between Lisa and Luan, who was holding Lily.

A few more moments of chatter was interrupted by Lincoln, who pointed out that the show was starting.

"HELLO EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO THE 2017 LITTLE MISS LAKE MICHIGAN BEAUTY PAGEANT!" a very over-enthusiastic young woman's voice shouted. "We've got a lot of lovely young ladies lined up, all waiting to show themselves off to you! Without further ado, let's begin!"

The beginning of the pageant basically composed of all the girls coming out in order, doing a brief introduction, and then walking back off stage. For the most part, the family only paid half-attention, until they heard some girl named Cookie Lo-something or other, signaling that the name "Loud" would be soon. After listening to her brief introduction, a familiar blonde girl walked onto stage.

"My name's Lola Loud, and I love tea parties and all of my siblings!" she yelled her usual introduction, seemingly showing her usual confidence. The entire family cheered for her.

The show went on, with different portions that seemed random. First there was the straight-up beauty section, where the girls wore sparkly dresses and piles of make-up. Lola, of course, looked right at home here, wearing her blinding pink dress.

Next was a talent portion. Some girls sang, some danced, some did gymnastics of some variety. Lola did an elegant ribbon dance, using some choreography that Lincoln remembered helping her (and Lana) learn.

Next was a swimwear section. Much to Lynnard's relief, nothing the girls wore was revealing. Most of the swimwear was pretty much the same as any other clothes they were wearing. Lola wore her swimming dress, which she ironically never permitted to touch water. Luan brought up the idea of Lola wearing her ACTUAL swimwear, which was basically a large plastic wrapping that kept any of her skin from getting wet. The idea of her wobbling out on stage in that got a good chuckle from most of the family.

Then came the charisma portion. The girls came out, talked about themselves, what they would do for the world, all of that stuff. After a long speech from the previous girl about world peace, it was Lola's turn.

"Alright, Lola, tell us a little bit about yourself." One of the judges said.

Lola seemingly retained her confident demeanor. However, two people, one young man and one little girl, could take notice of Lola's eyes. They didn't display that same confidence.

"Well... I'm 6 years old, and I'm the the 9th of 11 siblings. I also have a twin sister who is two minutes older than me. I'm a member of the Bluebell Scouts, and..."

Lola froze up. That never happened before. She looked around nervously for a moment, but then let out a large fake sneeze.

"Uhh, sorry. Must've tickled my nose." she said shyly.

The judges were silent for a moment, before the one from before spoke up again.

"So, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Silence. Normally, Lola could shoot out an answer immediately. But her tongue seemed tied tonight. She seemed trapped in her own thoughts.

"Umm... Lola?"

"Wha-? Oh, I'm sorry!" Lola jumped, before beginning to give an answer that seemed rehearsed. "W-Well, I've thought about it a lot. There's so much to do out there. Recently I thought about running a hotel when I grow up!"

"That sounds lovely." the judge said. "Now, if you could do one thing to make the world a better place, what would you do?"

"APOLOGIZE!"

Hearing Lola shout so suddenly made the judges and the Louds jump.

"Apologize? For what?"

Lola stood there, her eyes wide. Inside, she was pondering why exactly she yelled that.

"Apologize... apolo... to all the starving children in the world! Yeah." she sighed with relief. "It's terrible that in this day and age, we still have people who go to bed at night without a good meal. Especially poor little kids!"

The audience seemed hesitant to clap for a moment. Likely they were just as shocked by the earlier outburst as everybody else. But they gave Lola the same applause that every contestant was given.

The head judge's eyes were still wide, but she continued. "Thank you very much, Lola. You can go backstage now."

As Lola nodded and walked off stage, back at the Loud house, Lynn looked at her family.

"Uhhh ok, what was THAT all about?"

"I told you guys there was something up with Lola!" Lincoln said.

Lori chimed in. "Yeah, there's definitely something weird going on with her. We should've listened to Lincoln."

Lincoln took this chance to look over at Lana. Normally, if something was wrong with Lola, Lana would have the answer. But the girl was just looking at the TV. She wasn't really displaying any emotion Lincoln could easily pick up on.

Eventually, they went through the rest of the girls, and ending of the pageant was approaching.

"OK EVERYBODY, IT'S TIME FOR PLACEMENTS!" the exessively peppy announcer yelled.

On stage, all of the girls were lined up. The family found Lola, who was still wearing a mask of confidence.

"In 4th place... Bunny Boo-Boo!" a girl stepped forward to collect her reward and blow kisses to the crowd.

"In 3rd place... Brianna Buttowski!" again, a girl from the crowd stepped forward.

"in 2nd place..."

The Loud family all kneeled closer to the TV.

"Mushi Sanban!"

The family sighed with relief.

"Phew. That means Lola won!" Lori said.

The family began cheering.

"And our Little Miss Lake Michigan is..."

"LINDSEY SWEETWATER!"

And with those words, everything froze. For Lola, for Lynnard, and for the entire Loud House.

"L... Lola didn't win?" Leni asked.

"No, Leni... she didn't even place..." Lincoln replied, still frozen.

"Not good! NOT GOOD!" Leni shouted

"RED ALERT, PEOPLE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" Lisa yelled, with an uncharacteristic amount of fear.

"I MIGHT JUST DISAPPEAR, DUDES!" Luna joined them.

The entire Loud House was in a panic. For any other family, their child losing a pageant would be sad, but not a cause to freak out. But this was LOLA. Just forgetting to say "bless you" when she sneezes was enough to set her off. And this was the first time she ever lost a pageant. She even managed to win one dressed as Luna, so who knows how she'll react to this!

Back at the pageant, Lola was still frozen. Lindsey had stepped forward to claim her prize. All the other girls were cheering, some genuinely, and some obviously weren't happy but did so for appearances. But Lola just stood there, eyes wide.

Eventually, the pageant was ended and the girls began to move backstage. Lola still stood there, though, facing forward. That is, until Lindsey Sweetwater walked by and gave her a smug grin.

"Well, well. Guess the amazing Lola's luck finally ran out, huh?" the girl said, looking Lola dead in the eyes. "It's about time the public sees a REAL beauty queen for once."

Normally, the destructive force unleashed after someone talks to Lola like that would rate a 7.5 on the Richter scale. But Lola just... looked down.

"Heh, don't even have anything to say? I always knew you were a loser." Lindsey remarked as she walked away.

"Lola! Are you alright?"

Lynnard shouted out to her as he ran onto the stage. He reached his daughter, but she didn't look up to acknowledge him.

"I'm really sorry, princess... Umm... why don't we head home now, alright?"

She still didn't say anything, but she didn't resist when her father took her hand, and walked with him out to the car.

The drive home was silent. Lynnard didn't know what to do. He, too, expected to be dealing with a more... violent reaction to Lola's first lost pageant. But he wasn't prepared for a total shutdown. The fact that he didn't know how to help his daughter was painful.

Eventually, they got back to the house. Lola silently unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and began to walk inside. Lynnard rushed to her side, to walk in with her. Opening the door, he saw Rita and Lincoln standing nearby.

"Oh, sweetie!" Rita yelled out, rushing over to Lola. "We saw on TV. I'm so sorry you didn't win."

Rita kneeled down and gave Lola a hug. As usual since the loss, Lola didn't seem to react at all. When Lincoln walked over, though, Lola looked up to him.

Her expression was... blank. It was like somebody had switched Lola's face with Lucy's, Lincoln thought. She looked... broken.

"Where are all the girls?" Lynnard asked his wife.

She got up and talked quietly. "They're all hiding. They were worried that Lola would be a bi angry about the loss."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I was surprised that she didn't explode after the pageant ended..."

As the parents continued talking, Lola started to walk upstairs. Lincoln noticed, and tried to follow her.

"Lola, are you alright?" he shouted from behind her.

She remained silent.

"Lola!"

"...Please, just leave me alone for a while..."

She spoke softly, and Lincoln almost couldn't hear her. But he stopped and let her walk into her room alone. As she closed her door, the other doors on that floor opened up, and heads peeked out.

"Was that Lola? Is she freaking out?" Lynn's voice asked.

"No..." Lincoln responded "She's... I don't know how to explain it... depressed. She wanted to be left alone for a while."

"Well, we should probably leave her alone like she wants, then." Luan chimed in.

"Yeah. We'll see how she feels at dinner." Lori added. Most of the sisters mumbled in agreement, and then returned to their rooms. Lincoln eventually went to his as well.

Although none of them really noticed, one sister didn't go back to what they were doing. Lana stood outside the bedroom door for a while, listening to the muffled sobbing coming from within...

 _ **A few hours later...**_

"Kids! Dinner!"

Hearing their father's shouting, the Loud children slowly stopped what they were doing, and gathered in the dining room.

Previously, Lincoln and the youngest half of the Loud siblings would go to the kitchen, to the "kiddy table". But a while back, after it became apparent that the separation and differing rules weren't enjoyed by the children, Rita and Lynnard had a discussion, and opted to do away with it. They bought a slightly larger dining room table, and although still cramped, it could fit all of them. They also started permitting dessert and less "adult" meals like chicken nuggets for the older children again (although they didn't mind having it again themselves).

As usual, the children started showing up one or two at a time. Once Luna and Lucy showed up, after finishing their poetry/songwriting meet-up, Lynn Sr. began serving dinner. He stopped, however, when he came to an empty seat.

"Who's not here?" he said quietly to himself as he counted out his children. With 11 of them to keep track of, sometimes it took a second to realize who exactly was missing.

"Where's Lola?" Rita asked. Sure enough, it was she who was absent.

"I'll go get her." Lincoln said as he got up. He walked to the stairway and started to climb up. But as he reached the top and turned to his right, Lola's door slowly opened, and he could see eyes peeking out.

"Lola? Are you alright? Dinner is ready, and we're waiting for you."

Lincoln watched as Lola's eyes looked down, and the door was closed a bit.

"I-I'm not sure if I'm hungry..." came a meek voice. Lincoln was a bit stunned to hear Lola sound so... small.

"Come on. We all want to see you and make sure you're alright. At least sit with us."

"...O-ok..."

The door opened up, and Lola walked out. But she didn't look like Lola. She wore a plain white t-shirt and some saggy grey sweatpants, and her feet were bare. No tiara, no make-up, no glitter. Her hair wasn't brushed, and her eyes showed evidence of recent crying. Lola hadn't been allowed to dress up during her grounding, but she still never looked THIS bad. Even when she wore a dress of toilet paper and a banana peel on her head, she was still fashionable.

"You're not wearing a dress?" Lincoln asked. As a reply, Lola simply shook her head. "That's alright. Let's head down to eat." He decided not to ask too many questions or be too pushy, or else he may risk Lola retreating back into her room.

The two descended the stairs. Lola moved fairly slowly, only just beginning to go down the staircase when Lincoln was already halfway down. He looked back and slowed a bit, waiting to reach the bottom with her. After that, he went into the dining room at normal pace.

"Umm, guys." he said quietly to the family. "Lola's still a bit shaken from earlier, so we shouldn't push her too much."

"Yeah, Lincoln's right. Everyone please be gentle and considerate with her." Lynnard added.

Everyone nodded in agreement, but as Lola walked in and everyone saw how unkempt she was, a few couldn't help but gasp.

Rita stood up. "Hey, sweetie. You feeling better?"

Lola nodded shyly. "A-a little..."

"That's good. Why don't you sit down and have some dinner with us?"

Lola slowly walked to her seat. Normally, she'd be seated next to Lana, but since the incident, she'd been sitting next to either Leni or Lincoln, the two she felt closest to besides her twin sister. Leni because she admired her fashion sense and they could bond over their love of dressing up (although their contrasting personalities otherwise could cause issues), and Lincoln because she felt Lincoln was the most trustworthy of all her siblings, even despite his occasional selfishness.

Taking the seat between Leni and Lisa this time, she nervously looked down at her plate until Lynnard served her dinner. Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and peas. Normally, a perfectly good food fight meal, although those had become far less common since the kiddy table was abolished (until the parents left the room for whatever reason, that is).

As dinner went on, nothing really abnormal happened. The family talked among themselves, discussing their day, how school was going, what big event/game/etc. one of the kids had coming up, things like that. Thankfully, Lola thought, nobody really pestered her. She could notice some looks pointed her way, though. Some, like from Lynn and Lori, showed a twinge of fear, like they were waiting for an explosion of rage to be set off any moment. From Luna and Lincoln, she'd catch looks of concern, which were both relieving and worrying to see.

However, the most perplexing looks came from Lana, who sat across and two seats to Lola's left. When Lola could work up the courage to look her twin's way, she could see a look that seemed almost a combination of the other two types. Was Lana really worried about her? Was she afraid of her? Both? It was difficult to figure out. Lana would look away quickly when she noticed her gaze being met, though.

"-ould you pass the potatoes, please?"

Lola jumped from her thoughts as she heard that. It sounded like her mother's voice.

"Sure." she could hear Lucy say. Lucy was down near the other end of the table. Next to her was Lisa, then Lola, Leni, Luan, and then Rita at the end.

Lucy grabbed the large bowl of mashed potatoes and handed it to Lisa. Lisa was small, but was able to hold it without issue.

"...Lola?" Lisa said. "Could you please take the bowl of crushed tuber and pass it down to our maternal parent?"

Lola looked at her for a second, before responding "Uhh, yeah, sure."

Lola took the bowl, and looked down the line. Rita and Luan were watching patiently, while Leni held her hands out, ready to take the bowl. She had an innocent, genuine smile on her face.

Slowly, Lola reached her arms out to pass the bowl forward. But her arms were shaking, and she was feeling weak. In almost slow-motion, she watched the bowl jump from her hands, turning as it went into the air, with the open side now facing Leni. Lola watched Leni's smile vanish and turn into a look of fear. And then with a loud SPLAT, the bowl landed on the older girl's chest, with potatoes running down her body, and some flying out and hitting her face.

"AAGH! MY FAVORITE DRESS!" Leni tried to yell, though some potatoes covered her mouth and muffled her voice.

"Well, now that's a STICKY situation, hahaha!" Luan giggled.

Lola jumped up, shaking more visibly now.

"I-I-I-I didn't mean to! I-I'm s-s-s-sorry!"

By now, half the family was on their feet. Most were going over to help Leni, who was still trying to shake the potatoes off. Lori, Luna, and Lincoln were watching Lola, who was very obviously disturbed by this. Lana was still in her seat, but her eyes were wide as she took in everything.

"I-it was an accident. S-stop looking at m-me!" Lola screamed as she ran away, heading back upstairs.

"LOLA! WAIT!" Lincoln yelled as he ran after her, though he stopped at the doorway. He wasn't sure if it would be best to try and catch her now, or wait.

Most of the attention was now on Lola's freakout. Leni had cleaned her face off and was trying to clean her dress with napkins.

"Way to go, Leni. You literally didn't have to yell like that! You scared her!" Lori said.

"I didn't mean to do that to her!" Leni replied, with a look of guilt on her face.

"Now, now, girls." Lynnard added himself in. "This isn't anyone's fault. Lola's been having some problems. We should give her a moment to calm down, and then me and your mother will try to talk to her."

Upstairs, Lola had ran into her room and slammed the door shut. She sat on the floor, rocking back and forth, trying not to cry.

"It was just an accident... I-I didn't mean to do that to Leni... I really am g-good for nothing..."

Lola leaned over and lied on the floor, trying to calm down. After a moment, the shaking started to settle. But before it went all the way away, something caught her eye.

"Wh-what's that?" she said as she got up, and walked over to Lana's bed.

After about 15 minutes, dinner had been wrapped up. Lori, Luna, and Luan went with Leni to help her pick out a look for school tomorrow while her dress was in the wash. Lynn, Lucy, Lana and Lisa went to their rooms (or in Lana's case, Lynn and Lucy's room). Lincoln walked with is parents over to Lola's door. He was heading to his room, but wanted to see how Lola was doing.

"Lola, sweetie? Are you feeling alright?" Rita asked as she knocked on the door. There was no response.

"Lola? Please don't ignore us. We're worried about you." Lynnard added.

Again, nothing. The two parents decided to open the door and walk in.

The light was off, and in Lola's bed, the could see a large, child-sized lump under the blanket, with an arm sticking out.

"Must've fallen asleep already." Lynnard said. "Well, we shouldn't wake her. Let's check back in the morning."

The two parents exited the room, closed the door, and went back downstairs. Lincoln lingered for a moment, before going into his room. He agreed with them. Best check on her after she sleeps it off.

The Loud family thought about that whole incident all evening, until bedtime.

 _ **About 11:30 PM**_

Lana heard odd sounds from out the door. Thumping, like something heavy falling down or being dragged down the stairs. She sat up and looked around. She was laying in Lynn's bed with her. The older girl was still asleep, snoring more lightly than usual, which is what permitted Lana to hear those noises. Across the room, Lucy lied stiff in her bed, arms crossed over her chest. Every so often, Lana could hear a faint sigh (Lucy literally sighing the word "Sigh"). She was still asleep too.

Slowly getting up, Lana walked over to the door and opened it. Looking around, she didn't really see anything. But then she looked towards the door of her and Lola's room.

The door was opened slightly. Lana wondered why that would be, before deciding to go check it. She wondered whether she should wake Lynn to go with her just in case, but decided against it. Lynn would be too noisy of a companion, and may insist on waking Lucy and the rest of the siblings, which would get them all mad at Lana if it was nothing.

Tiptoeing out of the room, Lana quietly shut the door. She noted that it creaked a bit, and mentally noted to oil Lynn and Lucy's door hinges for them later. But for now, she crept quitely to the open door, and peeked inside.

The room was fairly messy. It looked like someone dug through everything in the closet and strewn it about. Lana almost thought to run back for Lynn and tell her there was a robbery, but then she looked to the right.

The trash can was stuffed with glittery clothing, jewelry, and sashes. Walking over to it, Lana reached in and pulled out a very familiar pink dress. Putting it aside, she began to dig through the entire contents of the bin. All of it was Lola's clothes. Or at least, her dresses. By now, Lana realized that this was definitely something connected to Lola. She opted to take her chances, and go wake her twin sister up...

...Except Lola wasn't there. Her bed was empty, and most of the stuffed animals that usually rested there were gone. Lana frantically ran over to the bed, digging around for clues. As she lifted Lola's blanket, a loud "thud" could be heard on the floor.

Looking down, Lana found what had fallen off the bed. It almost looked like a camera, with a long handle at the bottom to hold it by, and a crank on the side.

"Oh no..." Lana said to herself. "I thought I hid this..."

Reluctantly, Lana looked into the lens of the "camera", and began turning the crank.

A video was playing. However, it was already at the end point, suggesting that it had been watched, but not finished and rewound.

She saw an image of her bedroom. Lana could see herself standing at the terrarium next to her bed, and holding a frog.

"Hops..."

 _"Nighty-night, buddy."_ Lana's voice came from the projector's speaker as the Lana in the video said it. She kissed Hops, put him in the tank, and lied in bed. Hops croaked, jumped out of the tank and onto the bed, cuddling closely with Lana.

 _"I can't imagine what life would be like without my best friend Hops."_

Lana teared up a bit. She remembered every moment in that video. She remembered making it, and then showing it to Lincoln, and later his teacher and principal at the elementary school.

She also remembered stuffing it under her bed the day Hops died. She found it too unbearable to think about.

But wait, if it was under her bed, why was it now on top of Lola's be-

"Lola!"

Lana bolted from the bedroom and into the hall. She ran to the stairs before stopping. She looked around at the bedroom doors, all still closed tight with sleeping residents.

"...No time. If I wake them up, Lola might get too far!"

Lola ran downstairs. Being careful not to wake her parents, she put on her jacket, and went out the front door.

Before yelling for Lola or doing anything else, Lana ran behind the garage. Lola's car was usually parked there. Lana had no idea where she got that thing, but it was way more advanced than a toy Jeep should be. It was really just a miniature REAL car.

Nothing. The car was gone, and there were fresh tracks in the grass. Lana immediately felt her heart sink. Lola must've driven off. Who knows where she could be going? Or how far she is?

She turned around, ready to go wake everyone up and start a full search of Royal Woods, when she took notice of the tracks. They didn't go to the front yard and then the sidewalk. They went... to the backyard?

Lana followed them. As she approached the backyard, she could hear the faint noise of a small engine. And surely enough, she looked up, and saw the pink vehicle there. And behind it...

Lana could see Lola. The girl was facing away, and hadn't noticed anything. She was wearing the same clothes from earlier that night, but now with light-pink sneakers and her car's helmet.

Lana quietly approached, wondering what Lola was doing. But once she got right behind her, she realized where they were.

In front of Lola was a wooden cross, sticking out of the ground. At the bottom of it was a small wooden sign. Lana didn't need to read it. She'd read it several times, every day she'd been out here to visit.

It said "Here lies Hops."

"Lola?"

The girl jumped upon hearing that voice. She turned around, eyes wide, and backed up, now standing against the tree behind the grave.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" Lola replied, with what sounded like fear in her voice.

"I was going to ask you that. Are... are you trying to run away? Why are you at Hops' grave?"

There was silence for a moment. Lola stilled stared at Lana, eyes wide, until she seemed to settle.

"Y-yeah, I'm running away... I just wanted to stop here first and tell Hops... tell him I'm so-... Nothing important, really." she tried to change the topic.

"Why on Earth are you trying to run away!? Is it because of the pageant?"

"No... well, yes... a little bit." Lana had to struggle to hear Lola's voice, as it was weak and quiet.

"It's ok, Lola. It doesn't matter if you lose one silly show."

"It does matter!" Lola suddenly yelled, although not violently! "It's all that matters! What good is Lola Loud if she doesn't win!?"

"Winning isn't everyth-"

"Yes it is! You said so yourself! That I'm only good for pageants and beauty. That that's all I contribute to this family!"

"Lola... I never said that!"

"YES YOU DID! ON THAT DAY, IN MOM AND DAD'S BEDROOM, AFTER YOU ATTACKED ME! I HEARD YOU!"

"What are you talking ab-"

Lola started yelling louder. "STOP LYING! I HEARD IT ALL! HOW LOLA IS USELESS, HOW SHE ONLY CARES ABOUT PAGEANTS AND DRESSES, HOW I'M JUST A STUCK-UP..."

Lana's eyes grew wide as the memories came back. On the day Hops died. Lana had been furious. She remembered saying all those things, and how she called Lola a...

"I-I did say that, didn't I..."

"What did you say, Lana!?" Lola looked at her angrily.

"I'm not gonna repeat it."

"SAY IT!" Lola screamed.

"A b-b-bitch! I called you a bitch..." Lana was now beginning to cry.

"Yes. You did. And do you know the worst part, sister?" Lola walked up to her.

"Wh-what?" Lana backed up. The tables had now turned, with Lana being the one in fear of her sister.

Lola's anger seemed to die down suddenly.

"...You're right."

"What?"

"You were right! I am a horrible person. I didn't care about you, or anyone or anything else, just me and my stupid pageants!"

"L-Lola... I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did! You were right! I'm nothing but a stuck-up BITCH, and this family is better off withou-"

THWAP!

Lola stopped. She could barely register what just happened. She was looking to her side now, her cheek stinging. She turned, and looked at Lana, who was still crying, and was now holding her hand in pain.

"Stop it, Lola!" she yelled. "Those things I said... I didn't mean them. I was just so angry, and I was saying things I didn't mean!"

"But you were right..."

"No, I wasn't!" Lana was now the one raising her voice a bit. "Lola... I was furious... I wasn't thinking clearly... I know we disagree and fight a lot, but I NEVER thought that you were useless..."

"In fact, I'm kind of jealous of you..."

Lola's eyes grew wide when she heard that.

"J-jealous? Of me?"

"Yeah... You're so strong, so confident... And you're so beautiful. I've always felt like the useless one. I just play in the mud, but you... You're perfect..."

Lola was now beginning to cry too.

"L-Lana... You're not useless... I've actually always been jealous of you, too. You're strong, you're confident, and you don't care how you look, you don't let that get in your way like I do... But to be honest, even with gross clothes, and when you're all muddy... I always thought you were pretty, too."

Lana raised an eyebrow and looked at Lola with confusion. But then... they both began laughing. it was the first time either of them could remember laughing since Hopsageddon.

As their laughter died down, Lola ran forward and hugged Lana. The tomboy was caught off guard by it, but then returned the hug.

"Lana... I'm so sorry... For the fight, for Hops, for everything!"

"I'm sorry too... for hurting you, and for saying those mean things, and for not apologizing sooner..."

The two stood there for a few minutes, just enjoying the hug. But after a moment, they let go.

"So... does this mean you're not running away?"

"Yeah, I don't think I want to run away anymore..."

Lana smiled. "Do you wanna go back to bed, then? In OUR bedroom?"

"Sure... but first..."

Lola reached down. At first, Lana wasn't sure what was going on, but then Lola stood back up, with a fine blob of mud in her hands.

"Lola... what are you-"

THWAP! The mud was thrown, and hit Lana right in the face, nearly making her lose balance. Lana stood there for a moment, barely able to process what happened. But then she let out another laugh.

"Oh, it is ON, princess!"

And even though it was almost midnight, it was quite a while before the girls went to bed. They had plenty of time to reconnect in the week they were grounded for leaving the house so late, tracking mud in the house, and laying in their beds without washing it off.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **Sorry I take so bloody long, but here it is. I don't hate Lola (honestly, she ended up being one of my favorites without me even realizing it), but with characters like her, sometimes growth has to happen by knocking them down a peg, and then helping them climb up two.**

 **I hope you enjoyed what I affectionally call the "Twin Saga", though. I didn't intend to have two characters' stories connect, but with Lola and Lana, I simply couldn't ignore the strong bond they have as twins.**

 **I hope the next story I do is a bit more upbeat. Somebody predicted "Cerebus Syndrome" would happen to my story, and that seems to have be right. I don't really intend to get any darker than this, though, but let's see what happens next. :D**


	8. Luna: Part 1

_**This story takes place a while after "L is for Love". If you ain't seen it yet for some reason, I'd advise waiting to read until afterwards. Trust me, it's a great episode, you should watch it anyhow.**_

* * *

 **Luna: The Way You Look at Me**

* * *

Saturday mornings are often one of the greatest things in the world to a lot of people. Having a whole day to look forward to, with no school, no work... Just whatever you wanna do for a whole 24 hours.

In the Loud House, one girl was particularly excited for this Saturday. She was practically skipping around all day. Luna Loud hummed a lovely tune to herself as she went about her morning rituals.

In the normal weekend chaos, it mostly went unnoticed. But as they finished breakfast together, Luna got up and volunteered to take everybody's plates. Her siblings watched as she danced from seat to seat, taking everybody's dishes and moonwalking the foot high pile to the sink.

"What is up with Luna today?" Lori asked her siblings in a whisper.

"I don't know... Maybe one of her songs got more hits online?" Lynn responded just as quietly.

"Maybe Mick Swagger is starting another tour and she got tickets?" Lucy stated flatly.

"Maybe she, like, got a new boyfriend!" Leni said far louder than she should have.

Lori covered her mouth as the siblings watched the kitchen doorway. After a moment, they figured Luna didn't hear.

"Phew... Remember to whisper, Leni! Besides, don't you think she'd tell us if she had a boyfriend?"

As she said that, Lisa, the youngest of the sisters who could speak, cleared her throat.

"Actually, as odd as this sentence is to say, I find Leni's proposal to be the most likely."

"Yay, I'm the most likely!" Leni cheered. "Umm... that's a good thing, right?"

"Come again, Lis?" Lori said.

"Analyzing her behavior, it does seem to match those of a teenage girl with high levels of chemicals released into the brain due to feelings of requited love and romantic excitement. As for her not telling us, we already have prior evidence to her not being open with her romantic intent. Remember the incident with our mother's love letter?"

"Oh yeah..." Lincoln thought aloud. "We never did learn about that Sam guy she liked. She kept quiet about him."

"Yeah, even I didn't know who he was, and me and Luna talk about EVERYTHING!" Luan chimed in.

Lisa nodded. "Yes. If we want answers, I suggest that Luan or Lincoln simply ask her. She may be open to one of them."

Lincoln was about to respond, but Luan said "I'm already on it!" as she got up and went into the kitchen.

"We'll be in my room when you're done!" Lori said to Luan as the other Loud siblings got up.

As Luan walked in, she watched Luna clean the dishes, humming her same song from earlier, and doing small dance moves. As she finished a plate and did a twirl, Luna noticed her sister standing there with a grin on her face.

"Oh!" Luna blushed a bit "Wh-what's up, Lu?"

"Nothin' much. What about you, twinkletoes? You look happy today."

"What, me? Yeah, I guess I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning." Luna said before resuming her humming.

"Hmm... So, what'cha got planned for today?"

Luna looked back again. "I'm just going to the mall to hang out with some friends. No biggy."

"Ah... Would any of those friends happen to be... _boy_ friends?"

"WHA-" Luna jumped, almost dropping the plate she was holding. But thankfully she caught it just a foot from the floor.

"Boyfriends? What g-gives you an idea like that, sis?"

Luan shrugged. "Eh, just a hunch. You look all lovey-dovey today."

"W-well, I don't have a secret boyfriend, if that's what you're implying!"

"Ok, ok, I believe you!" Luan said.

"Well, I gotta get back to the dishes. Unless you got any other crazy things to say..."

"Nah, that's it. I'll talk to you later, sis..." Luan said as she turned to walk out, before stopping.

"Oh wait, one more thing! Don't be afraid to go all-out at the stores. It's _mall_ or nothing!"

Luna groaned as Luan giggled and ran out.

 _ **In Lori and Leni's room...**_

"She was so obviously lying!" Lori shouted out, after hearing Luan's recount of their interaction.

"Yes, her nervousness certainly implies deceit." Lisa added. "The question now is, what is our best course of action?"

"I say we all go to the mall and wait for this boyfriend of hers!" Lynn yelled.

"We can't ALL go, that'll be too obvious!" Lola said. "It didn't work when we thought Bobby was cheating on Lori!"

"Please don't bring that up, that was literally so embarrassing." Lori sighed.

"Yes. I propose we send two to the mall to investigate."

Lincoln sighed. "Guys... If Luna DOES have a boyfriend, and hasn't said anything, maybe we should just leave her alone? She'll introduce him to us whenever she's ready."

Silence...

"So who's going to spy on her? Can I go? I like to be sneaky!" Lana said.

"So do I."

The entire room jumped when they heard Lucy's voice behind Lori.

"Siiiigh. You see?"

Lisa pulled out a calculator... or something like one. With Lisa, it could be a super-computer for all we know. She pressed a few buttons, and then answered.

"If we send a pair of two to spy on Luna, I'd suggest the team of Lincoln and Lynn."

"WHAT!?" the 11 and 13 year olds said almost simultaneously.

"Yeah, why them?" Lori said. "Lucy was literally right about being sneaky, me and Leni could fit in and do some shopping, you're smart enough to figure these things out... No offense, but that seems like a weird result."

"Ooh, shopping? We're going shopping? I thought we were spying!" Leni chimed in.

"No, Leni, we aren't shopping." the 2nd oldest frowned as Lisa continued. "Lincoln and Lynn fit because they can both blend into such an environment, and their personalities make them a good team for the job."

"How so? I don't even WANT us spying on Luna!" Lincoln said.

"It's quite simple. You, brother, are creative and fairly cunning. To bring up the Bobby situation again-" Lisa was cut off by Lori groaning. "Ahem, to bring that up again, you were the one to catch all of the evidence. Even with the situation so terribly misinterpreted, it was fair sleuth work."

"As for Lynn, she is athletic and has the best reflexes and keenest eyesight of all of us. She can be a valuable partner for watching from afar and for making quick movements to keep up with the target and avoid detection. And her natural agressiveness combined with Lincoln's calmer nature and desire to not even do this will balance out."

The girls thought it over. Lisa was fairly on point about it all.

"Alright, girls, me and Linc will figure this out!" Lynn said confidently.

Lincoln shook his head. "Well I'm not doing it! I won't betray Luna's trust like this!"

"Well, that is a shame, brother..." Lisa said in a crafty voice. "I suppose Lynn will have to spy on her alone. I'm sure that will not go wrong..."

Lincoln suddenly had a flash in his mind. He pictured Luna at the mall, holding hands with a rocker-looking boy. The boy went in for a kiss, and then...

 _"Hey, hands off my sis!"_ Lynn's voice yelled as she tackled him. Luna was then overwhelmed with shame and ran off crying.

"...Fine. I'll do it, but only to make sure we're fair about this, and Lynn doesn't do anything crazy."

"Ok then, it's settled! I'll drive Lincoln and Lynn to the mall. Luan and Lisa should come with me to stay in the van."

Luan looked up at the mention of her name. "I get Lisa, but why do you want me?"

"As Luna's roommate and best friend, you know her best. Any information you can offer could be useful." Lisa stated.

"Well, I am hungry, and I could go for a good _stakeout!_ Hahaha, get it?"

Everybody else groaned as Lori slammed her shoe down as a gavel, ending the meeting.

 _ **A few hours later.**_

Luna came down the stairs into the living room. Lucy, sitting on the couch, looked back to see her and nearly gasped.

Luna wasn't dressed up like normal. She wore a lovely light purple blouse, and a skirt that resembled her favorite, but was less torn. She had her dress shoes on over purple leggings, and had purple stud earrings in, instead of the paper clips she felt were 'rebellious'.

For a moment, Lucy wondered if Luna had Leni's brain in her body. Dressing up like this wasn't like her at all.

"Luna... you look..."

Luna grinned and did a little twirl to show off her outfit.

"I thought I'd try rockin' something different, you know? Everybody crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed girl."

"So you DO have a boyfriend!"

Luna jumped when she heard Luan barged in. A few of the less stealthy sisters could also be seen peeping their heads from doorways.

"N-n-no, I don't! I-I just thought maybe I'd try looking a little more cl-classy tonight, is all! Maybe my friends are taking me to a fancy restaurant!"

"Mmmmmmmmm-hmmmmmmmm" Luan said in an exaggerated fashion. "Well, have fun with your "friends", sis!"

"I-I will!" Luna said as she turned around and left quickly, trying to cover her blushing. Luan and Lucy watched as she got into a car with a group of teenagers and drove off.

"Ok, she's gone! There WERE a few people in the car, though, not just a guy."

The other siblings walked into the living room.

"Ok, everybody coming with us, get ready. We'll give it a few minutes and then head out." Lori said as she grabbed the keys to Vanzilla.

"My tracking device is showing that Luna is, indeed, going to the mall. So she did not falsify the location."

Lori looked back at Lisa. "Lis... you never said anything about a tracking device."

"Oh!" Lisa gave a nervous grin. "Yes, I made that just for this mission. None of you have any on your person. Please do not itch your scalps too hard..."

 _ **10 minutes later...**_

Everybody got in the van, with Luan taking the front passanger seat and the rest filling the first row. Once people were seated and belts buckled, Lori took off.

"Lincoln, I've prepared this transmitting device. Take it with you, and you and Lynn will be able to communicate with us in the van."

Lisa hands Lincoln a walky-talky looking item.

"Wait, isn't this just like mine that I use with Clyde? Did you take this from my room?"

"Nonsense, it is nothing like your primitive speaking unit. Which reminds me, why do you even use that when you have cellular phones?"

"It's just more fu-"

"Rebound Guy to Snowtop! You there, Lincoln?" a familiar voice rang through the phone.

Lincoln looked at Lisa, who had a guilty expression on her face.

"What did he mean by 'Rebound Guy'?" Lynn asked.

"I don't know." Lincoln said as he went back to the talky. "Snowtop to... Rebound Guy. Sorry Clyde, I can't talk right now, I'm busy."

"Oh, ok. Hey, how's Lori doing? Is she ready for me to make my move and help her get over Bobby?"

Lori could be heard gasping in the front seat.

"UGH, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, YOU LITTLE DORK! AND BOBBY AND I ARE STILL TOGETHER!"

"L-L-L-Lori!?" Clyde could be heard saying, followed by a thud.

"He fainted again..." Lincoln said.

"I guess he's still _falling head over heels_ for you, sis! Hahaha!"

Everybody groaned at Luan's pun again. Lisa took the device back from Lincoln and toyed with it for a moment.

"There you go. I've changed the frequency so we will not experience any unfortunate interruptions during our mission."

As Lisa handed it back to Lincoln, Lori parked the van. Lynn opened her door and leapt out before Lori could even make a complete stop.

"You ready to do this, bro?" she shouted, jogging in place.

"Yep. Time to start 'Operation Invade-Luna's-Privacy-To-Find-Out-If-She-Has-A-Boyfriend-And-If-So-Make-Sure-He's-A-Nice-Guy-And-Also-Think-Of-A-Shorter-Name-For-This-Operation.'" he sighed as he got out. Although he tried to sound like he was still disagreeable, Lisa and Lori noted that he had a hint of excitement for it all.

"Remember, you two..." Lori said out her window before they left, "Keep your distance, and don't let her see you. If things go sour, run back and we'll deal with the backlash together."

"Yes, ma'am!" Lynn said with a faux salute. "Let's roll out!"

"We're spying on Luna, so don't you mean _rock_ and roll out?"

Luan giggled to herself as Lynn and Lincoln, out of earshot of that one, went into the mall.

The Royal Woods Mall was fairly large for not being in a major city. Plenty of people, mostly teens and tweens, roamed the stores. Lincoln was checking with Lisa to make sure the walky-talkies had signal.

"Alright, Linc. Where should we check first? I say we check Falcon Athletics! Maybe she needs some pads for stage diving."

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Nah, I'd say we check Mega Comics first. Maybe they revived those SMOOCH comics from the 80's!"

Lori's voice came in through the walky-talky. "No, you guys... Luan says to check Dawn of the Thread, that's where she and a lot of her friends would go at some point. She also said a pun I'm going to spare you from."

"Ok..." Lynn and Lincoln said, disappointed.

The two teens made their way to the store, which wasn't hard to miss with the dark atmosphere and the metal music playing. Inside, goth kids and punk-rockers alike looked through the clothes, which were all dark, had rather edgy designs, were all torn up, or a combination of the three.

As the two walked in, the teen boy at the check-out desk looked at them.

"Hey, little man. You sure you're in the right spot? Don't look like you and your girlfriend would really be into this stuff."

Hearing the "g" word instantly made shivers crawl down the two's spines.

"Wh-what? She's not my-"

"Oh GOD no!" Lynn yelled. "Me? Dating this dork? No way! This is my brother!"

The guy and Lincoln looked stunned, but then the cashier burst into laughter.

"Aww man, that was so harsh! You coulda just said that, no need to lay into him like that! But if you two wanted to go in, go ahead, I'm not stopping you."

Lincoln and Lynn both went in. Lincoln still looking embarrassed, and Lynn mouthing the words "sorry" to him.

The two browsed the store. The inside looked the same as the outside. Clothes with punk or metal designs, spiked belts, hair dye, make-up. It was easy to picture Luna shopping here, and maybe Lucy joining her one day when she was older.

However, among the metalheads and emos, they didn't see their sister anywhere.

"Alright, Linc, let's get out of here and check somewhere else." Lynn said as she walked off towards the exit of the store.

"Yeah, I'm co-OOF!"

As Lincoln turned around, he bumped into somebody, almost knocking him down.

"Oh gosh, I'm really sorry aboooooooooooo-"

His voice stopped when he looked up. The person he bumped into was a young woman, about Luna or Leni's age. She was blonde, with a nice streak of blue dyed into her long hair. Enough to add flair, but without overdoing it. She dressed kinda like Luna, in punk rock attire.

And she was possibly the most beautiful girl Lincoln had ever seen.

"Bah... bah... bah..." Lincoln said, barely forming a proper thought. The girl, having shaken off the bumpy encounter, let out a giggle.

"It's ok, dude! Totally my fault for not watching where I was going. I gotta hurry back to my friends, though. Stay rockin'!"

The pretty girl walked off, Lincoln still staring at her lovingly. She almost seemed to move in slow motion.

"Linc?"

"Lincoln?"

"LINCOLN!"

Lynn had to practically shout to get her brother's attention.

"Wh-wha? What is it, Lynn?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that we're supposed to find Luna, and you've been staring at that girl's rear end for a good minute!"

"Why would I stare at her butt? That's gross!"

Lynn rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Oh, kids... Anyway, forget about it, let's get going."

As the two got to the end of the store, Lincoln stopped again at the cashier.

"Umm, excuse me, sir?"

The guy looked down and smiled.

"Oh hey, Sister Savage's brother again. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you've seen somebody? We're looking for our older sister, and we think she might've been here. She was wearing purple dress clothes, had short brown hair and freckles. About 15 years old?"

"Hmm... Yeah, a girl like that was in here. She was pretty hot." He paused, irritating Lincoln, who doesn't really like hearing boys talk about his sisters like that. "She bought some new clothes, changed into them here, and then left with her friends not too long before you first showed up. She shouldn't be too far, maybe headed to the food court. Tell her Trent says hey."

"Uhh yeah, sure, I'll totally do that." Lincoln mumbled as he left to catch up with Lynn, who was scanning the entrances of nearby stores.

The pair decided to heed Trent's advice and walk toward the food court.

"I could use a quick stop at Expressway anyhow. I haven't had my 2nd daily meatball sub yet." Lynn said.

As the two walked down the halls, making sure to check each store entrance, Lincoln began to wonder if it was wise to only have two kids scanning the whole mall for one girl, but then...

"Linc! Look over there!"

"Where?"

"Over there, in line at Wok This Way! It's Luna!"

Lincoln couldn't really see, but as he got closer, he could make out a small group that included his sister Luna, who, as Trent the cashier said, had changed into new clothes. A black sleeveless shirt not too unlike her favorite purple one, her same purple skirt from earlier, and new boots. Honestly, it was just a different color scheme of her usual look. She was talking to three other people, including-

"Bah... bah... bah..." The cute blonde again. She must've been one of Luna's friends who got left behind.

"Wha-? Aww crap, not again, you dork!" Lynn said as she bonked Lincoln on the head. "Gimme the phone thing so I can talk to the girls!"

Dazed enough from the hit to peel his eyes away, Lincoln pulled out the walky-talky and handed it over.

Lynn fumbled with it to figure out how to turn it on.

"Hey? Hello? Lori? Lisa? You guys there?"

"We hear you, Lynn." Lori's voice said. "Did you find her?"

"Yeah, she's at the food court. She's hanging out with some friends, like she said she would. There is a guy here that looks like her type, though."

"What's he look like?" Luan's voice asked.

"Uhh... Brown hair, purple jacket, jeans, chains, guitar case... He's a dude Luna, practically."

Luan thought for a moment. "That does sound like a guy I've seen her hang around with before, but I never learned his name."

Lincoln pondered for a moment. "Hey, maybe that's Sam! Luna might've been so nervous because she's with her crush!"

Lisa's voice was next. "That hypothesis does have merit. It's possible Luna was both happy and nervous about being near this Samuel. I'd still advice further analysis. Keep hidden and continue watching for any interesting development."

"Yeah, and don't _eaves_ drop the ball!" Luan said with a giggle.

"I told you no puns during the mis-" Lori's voice said as the walky cut off.

As the pair watched, Luna and her friends got their food and went to a table. Lincoln and Lynn, taking care to stay out of their lines of sight, tried to get closer. They ended up behind a half-wall separating some tables.

"Can you hear what they're saying, Lynn?"

"Nope, too much chatter. Mostly looks like they're just eating."

Lynn watched as they ate. She almost pointed out what appeared to be potential hand-holding, but Luna was just taking a straw for her drink from the bot sitting across from her.

"Ugh, this is BORING!" Lynn whined. "Why don't we just go up there and barge in? If that guy is Luna's boyfriend, maybe she'll just introduce him if we catch her with him!"

"No, Lynn! She'd never trust us again! We can't do that to her!"

Lynn rolled her eyes. "Oh, boo-hoo, she'll get over it. I'm going in!"

Despite Lincoln's protests, Lynn got up and started walking over. Lincoln turned on the walky again.

"Red alert! Lynn's going over to her!"

"Well, don't just stand there, stop her!" Lori said, followed by an out-of-focus argument with Lisa about the results of her calculations picking Lynn.

Lincoln went after his sister, being sure to keep low, when suddenly Luna and her friends all got up.

"Crap crap crap crap crap!" Lincoln said to himself. Running forward, he managed to grab Lynn and pull her under a table, but it was only about 20 feet away from Luna's.

"Oh, you wanna get physical, huh!?" Lynn said angrily, balling up a fist. But she stopped when she noticed was Luna was doing.

"Lincoln, look! She's hugging him!"

Lincoln peeked out, and saw Luna hugging the boy affectionately.

Lincoln got the walky out again.

"Ok guys, I caught Lynn. Luna didn't see us, but she's hugging the guy. Is that enough proof?"

Luan's voice came in. "Eh, maybe. Luna's a hugger, though, so it's not a sure thing."

When Luna let go, she then went and hugged one of the others, a girl with almost maroon hair that covered her eyes.

"Yep, false alarm. She's hugging them all goodbye."

After that hug, the two there walked away. However, the blonde girl remained. Luna went in and reached to give her a hug.

"Let's get ready to go, bro. She really WAS just with her friends." Lynn said.

"Ok... Lori, Lisa, we're heading ou-WOAH!"

"Woah? Woah what, Lincoln?" Lori asked.

Over at the other table, Luna was holding that blonde girl close. But it wasn't a hug.

They were kissing. Rather passionately, in fact.

"Oh my God..." Lynn said. "Luna's a freakin' dyke!"

Lincoln was still holding the walky button.

"What did she just say!? Luna's a WHAT!?" Lori's voice yelled.

* * *

 **Ok. First of all, I just want to specify that Lynn's last line does NOT reflect my own opinions, and is not meant to offend anyone reading this. But I didn't wanna sugar-coat things either. We'll see why she chose that language.**

 **Now, about the episode. I was surprised by this twist. I really loved how they went through with it. Although for me personally it was bittersweet. You see, this is actually the FIRST story I had planned for my series, before Season 2 of the show even started. But the sister revealed to be bi wasn't Luna.**

 **But rather than drop the story, I decided to repurpose it into a continuation. And I honestly like Sam more than I liked the OC love interest I was gonna end up making. Just as forest fires can bring new life, sometimes having a story concept wiped out can clear room for something better.**

 **Geez, I talk too much. Anyway, I hope you guys look forward to Part 2: The Only One I See. But oh, what's going on here?**

* * *

Sam released her brown-haired beauty from her grasp. Her first kiss was everything any love story and song said it would be, and so much more. She could only hope Luna felt the same way.

"Wow... that was amazing..." she said in her faux British accent. God, did Sam find it cute when she talked like that.

Suddenly, a gurgle.

"Oh... Uhh..." Luna began to blush. "I guess I should head to the little-girl's room, then."

Sam giggled. "Alright. I'll meet you outside C.J. Nickels."

They both raised their hands and made devil-horns, their own personal goodbye, as Luna walked off. Sam stood there for a moment, appreciating the view of her girlfriend walking away, when she heard what sounded like muffled yelling.

"Hmm, what is that?" she thought, looking around. She didn't SEE anyone. But then a table a bit away caught her eye.

There were two people under it. A young girl with brown hair, and... hey, that little white-haired boy from before! They seemed to be talking to each other.

"What is going on over there, I wonder?"


	9. Luna (and Sam): Part 2

**Again, because I'm a wimp who worries too much about offending other people, I wanna clarify that any offensive or derogatory speech in this chapter is not a reflection of my own thoughts, and not intended to cause offense.**

* * *

 **Luna (and Sam): The Only One I See**

* * *

Lori, Luan, and Lisa were sitting in Vanzilla outside of the mall. They patiently waited for more updates from Lincoln and Lynn on what was going on inside.

"Hey Lori, I got a question for you..." Luan said.

"Hmm?"

"How come you drove us in Vanzilla instead of your car?"

Lori looked over to her sister.

"My car's literally worth twelve Vanzillas. I'm not gonna risk leaving it parked at the mall, who knows what could happen!"

"Oh, ok... I guess that's a pretty _van_ tastic idea!"

"Didn't I JUST say no puns during the stakeout!"

After about 10 minutes of silence from the walky-talky, Lincoln's voice suddenly came in.

 _"Red alert! Lynn's going over to her!"_

That got all three girls' attention. Luan's eyes went wide, Lisa started looking through some notes frantically, and Lori was practically freaking out.

"Well, don't just stand there, STOP HER!" she yelled.

Lori then looked back at Lisa, scowling at the young girl.

"I THOUGHT you said Lincoln and Lynn would be the best group for this!"

"The numbers said they were!" Lisa said nervously, her stoicism being broken by fear of her eldest sister's wrath. "I didn't think it would take this long for results, so I didn't calculate Lynn's short attention span as I perhaps should've."

"Well, we need to get ready, then." Luan broke in. "Boyfriend or not, Luna will be furious when she see's them."

Sighing in defeat, Lori was about to start up the van, when...

 _"Ok guys, I caught Lynn. Luna didn't see us, but she's hugging the guy. Is that enough proof?"_ Lincoln's voice said again.

Luan took the walky from Lori.

"Eh, maybe. Luna's a hugger, though, so it's not a sure thing." she said.

They both waited a moment, before Lincoln's voice returned again.

 _"Yep, false alarm. She's hugging them all goodbye."_

"That's that, I suppose. Luna literally WAS just hanging out with friends." Lori said.

"Yep... It would've been nice if she did have a boyfriend, though." Luan replied.

 _"Ok... Lori, Lisa, we're heading ou-"_

 _"WOAH!"_

All three girls froze. What did that mean? Were they seen? Did something happen?

"Woah? Woah what, Lincoln?" Lori said as she pried the walky from Luan's hands.

 _"Oh my God..."_ Lynn's voice could be heard in the background.

 _"Luna's a freakin' DYKE!"_

The sound of Lisa dropping her equipment in the back could be heard. Luan stared at the walky, her eyes wide.

"D-d-did Lynn just call Luna a-..."

Lori, also completely stunned, jammed the walky button down.

"What did she just say!? Luna's a WHAT!?"

The line was silent again.

* * *

 _"Lincoln! Answer me! WHAT did Lynn just say!?"_

Lincoln, unable to pry his eyes away from the surprising sight in front of him, meekly lifted the walky.

"I d-don't know what it means, but Luna... she's kissing that girl!"

 _"Kissing? Like, on the cheek or something?"_

"No, it's like, full make-out mode! Like you and Bobby when Mom and Dad aren't around."

Lincoln, still only paying half-attention as the kissing stopped, barely heard Lori gasping.

 _"F-first of all, literally never mention that again. Secondly, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"_ Lori yelled, forgetting her rule about not swearing around the younger siblings.

"You can't hear, woman!?" Lynn said, almost shouting as she took the walky back from Lincoln. "Luna's a dyke! A lesbian! A carpet mun-"

 _"Holy crap, Lynn, what is wrong with you!?"_ Lori said with disgust, _"We get that she's kissing a girl, but why are you talking like that?"_

"What, I'm the ONLY one disgusted by this?" Lynn said. The line remained silent. Looking over to her brother, Lynn saw a look of digust on his face. Apparently he put together what Lynn was saying.

"Ugh, whatever! Let's just get out of here so we can tell everybody else."

 _"We are NOT telling everybody until we figure this out! Wait for an opening, and then come back."_

"Umm, Lynn?" Lincoln said, tapping his sister's shoulder.

"Not now, Lincoln!" Lynn said. "We ARE telling everyone, Lori, because this is a big deal and we need to put a stop to it!"

"Lynn?"

"Shut up, Lincoln!"

 _"Put a stop to what? Why do we need to stop her if she likes girls?"_ Luan's voice came in this time.

"Because it's GROSS an-"

"LYNN!"

"WHAT, LINCO-" Lynn yelled as she snapped to her brother. However, she stopped as she looked back out from under the table.

Luna was nowhere in sight. However, the girl she was kissing, the blonde with the blue stripe in her hair, was peeking under the table at them.

"Uh oh..."

Seeing that the duo noticed her now, the girl began to walk over.

"Red alert, red alert!" Lynn said, holding the walky down so it wouldn't be seen. "Luna's gone, but the other chick spotted us! We need help, now!"

No response. Lynn and Lincoln both hoped they just didn't talk to avoid being heard by the girl, who was now at the table, kneeling down to see them.

"Hello again, little dude." she said with a friendly smile. "What'cha doing here? Trying to get some privacy with your girlfriend?"

Lincoln was stunned again, unable to talk.

"Ugh, why do people keep thinking I'm his girlfriend!? I'm his freakin' SISTER!" Lynn yelled with annoyance.

"Oh, geez, ok. I'm sor-" the girl tried to apologize, but she noticed something when Lynn lifted her hands.

"Is that... a walky-talky? Who are you talking to?"

"Huh!? Oh, nobody!" Lynn said, hiding it behind her back.

The girl, however, looked to be in thought. She turned around, looking at the table she was sitting at before, and looking back here. After a second, she gasped, and then her face turned angry.

"Were you... spying on me and my friends? Ok, who ARE you two!?"

"W-w-we weren't spying!" Lincoln said, trying to shake off his nerves. "We were just... trying to find somebody to surprise them! Y-yeah!"

"Mmm-hmm." the girl said, clearly not believing him.

Suddenly, she sprang forward, grabbing Lynn's arms. Lynn tried to pull away, but lost the walky-talky in the process, which the other girl quickly grabbed. All this happened before Lincoln could even react.

"Ok, who's there? I KNOW these two were talking to somebody!" she said as she turned it on.

Lori's voice responded. _"Who the hell are you? What did you do to Lincoln and Lynn!? If you hurt them, I swear to God..."_

"I didn't hurt them, I just found their little peepshow out, and I'm probably going to turn them in to the mall cop!"

As she said this, Lynn was trying to leap at her angrily, but Lincoln was holding her back.

 _"D-don't do that! We're sorry, just please let us take them home!"_ Luan's voice now yelled.

"I don't know, I'll have to think abou-Wait... I know that voice. Are you Luna's sister?"

 _"Eep!"_ Luan said before they went silent again.

"Wait a minute... Lincoln and... Lucy, was it? You guys are Luna's brother and sister?"

"My name is LYNN, you dumb lesbo!" Lynn shouted, still being held by Lincoln.

Hearing that shocked the other girl. Lincoln couldn't tell what emotion she was showing, but it was something like a mix between shock, anger, sadness, and confusion.

"Sammy! I've been waiting forever!"

"Oh no..." Lincoln said as he heard Luna's voice. Both girls turned to see her walking towards them.

"What's taking you so lon-" Luna suddenly froze. Lincoln could see her face slowly turn into a scowl.

"What are YOU doing here!?" she yelled. But it wasn't aimed at the table.

Behind them, Lori stood, looking like she just ran a mile. Luan and Lisa were shortly behind her.

"This is gonna get ugly... we need to go, Linc, now!" Lynn said as she broke free from his grasp and began to crawl away.

Lincoln wanted to say no, that he should try and mediate the situation. But he was scared. Lori or Lola's wrath was one thing, but Luna's was another. It took an awful lot to ger her mad, but it wasn't a pretty sight when she did.

So Lincoln began following Lynn.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to escape Luna's gaze.

"Lincoln? Lynn? You guys are here too!?" Luna yelled furiously.

Silently the two got up. The other three girls approached them, and they all stood together before Luna and her girlfriend. Luna looked furious, but the other girl looked more sad than anything else.

"Luna..." Lincoln said, too ashamed at her. "I'm so sorry... Could we just... talk about it? I don't want us to fight..."

Luna's expression didn't soften up at all.

"Just talk!? After you guys stalk me through the mall, and disrespect me and Sammy's privacy!?" she yelled.

Suddenly, though, Sam took Luna's hand. The rocker girl immediately seemed to cool down.

"Luna... let's just hear them out. Your brother's right, we don't want to cause a scene and make things worse."

Luna seemed like she wanted to stay angry, but the anger just left her body. "Fine..."

The group all walked to a large table silently. Luna and Sam sat close on one side, while the other five sat across from them. Lori stopped to grab a booster seat for Lisa.

"Is there something I should know?" Luna asked.

Lori was the first to respond. "First of all, Luna, this was literally all MY idea. I dragged the rest of them into it, and Lincoln kept begging us not to get involved. So if you're angry, be angry at me..."

Luna examined the group closely. Luan and Lincoln were staring down at the table in shame, Lynn seemed just as angry as Luna was for some reason, and wasn't paying any attention. Lori was adamantly keeping her ground, and Lisa was calmly twiddling her thumbs, likely analyzing the entire situation.

"I suppose I can believe that..." she finally said. "How long were you spying on us?"

"W-Well..." Lincoln was now speaking. "Me and Lynn came in and started looking for you about an hour ago. We tried Dawn of the Thread first, and..." Lincoln seemed to start blushing.

"I bumped into him there, when I went back." Sam chimed in for him. "Luna bought a new outfit and changed into it there, and I ran back to grab the clothes she forgot.

"I'm sorry," Luan this time. "But have we met before? You recognized my voice, and I'm pretty sure I've seen you around."

"Yeah. I transfered to Royal Woods about two or three months ago. My name's Samantha Osborne. I've seen you in the halls before, and Lunie told me you were her sister."

"Samantha Os- Oh my God!" Luan said, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I should've known! You were the Sam that Luna had a crush on!"

Luna started blushing so hard that the others could swear there was steam rising from her cheeks.

"I take it that means yes?" Lori asked.

"Y-yeah. She's the same Sam."

"How come you never TOLD us she was a girl, Luna?" Luan asked, almost sounding hurt that she, Luna's sister and best friend, didn't know. "How come you didn't tell us you were a lesbian? How come you never told ME?"

"W-Well, first off I'm not a lesbian, I'm bisexual... Second off, I didn't even really know myself for a long time."

Luna turned and looked at Sam, still holding her hand.

"But then I saw her face, and now I'm a believer."

"You mean a BI-liev-" Luan almost spoke up, but dirty looks from the whole table shut her up. "Ok, touchy subject I guess, sorry..."

"Why not tell us about it, Luna?" Lincoln asked. Luna noticed he still barely looked at Sam.

"I-it's a long story..."

"Please, go ahead." Lisa finally spoke up. "The more we know about the situation, the easier a resolution should be."

"Ugh!" Lynn groaned. She got up and left, walking towards the Expressway line.

"What's that all about?" Luna asked.

"She's literally a-" Lori started angrily, but she stopped. Sam was silently shaking her head, seemingly asking her not to bring it up.

"She's literally... just bored, I guess. Anyway, go ahead with the story."

"Ooooook... Well, it all started a few months ago..."

* * *

It was the Monday after Spring Break. Math class was just about to start, and I was rockin' my textbooks like drums. Suddenly, Mrs. Ligala is standing up at the front of the class.

"If I could have your attention, class... Luna, stop the drums for a moment, please." she said.

"Yes, now... We have a new student joining us today. I'd like everybody to please welcome Samantha Osborne!"

As she said that, this girl walked in. Long blonde hair, purple jeans and a shirt with The What logo on it.

Normally, you know, I'd be stoked to meet a new kid. But when I saw this girl, I don't know... I felt something weird. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, like she had eyeball-magnets or something...

"Now, I'll let you all have a minute, so you can help Samantha feel welcome and maybe help her make some new friends!"

"You can call me Sam if you want, everyone." she said. Even her voice had some kind of effect on me.

I watched her get invited to sit down with these two other rockers I hung out with sometimes. David Lifeson was the dude, and the girl with her eyes covered like Lucy is Agnetha Benetar, who moved here from Sweden.

They talked for a while. I was stuck in thought, though. Why was I staring at this chick? Why did I have these weird butterflies in my stomach. Did I have a crush on... no, there's no way, man. Luna Loud's not into chicks. I always liked dudes, like Mick Swagger and that Hugh guy that was tutoring Lincoln.

"Hey, Luna!" Agnetha yelled out to me. "Come sit with us!"

I couldn't see my own face, of course, but I think I started blushing. I got up to go walk over to the empty desk there, but my legs were wobbly.

I sat down, and the first thing that happened was...

"Hi! I'm Sam, it's so nice to meet you!"

She reached her hand out. It pretty much took all my willpower to reach forward and shake it without being a nervous wreck about it.

"H-h-hi, I'm Luna Loud. Charmed to meet you, luv!" I said, hoping my British accent would cover my nerves up a bit.

But then she giggled, and I kissed that idea goodbye.

"Luna's a rocker, too. She's way into Mick Swagger." David said.

"Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVE Mick Swagger!" Sam almost yelled.

After that, we started talking about Mick Swagger albums, and I was able to keep my nerves down a bit.

Eventually, Agnetha asked if we wanted to go over to her house after school.

"Sure, that sounds lovely!" Sam replied.

"What about you, Luna?"

Of course, I was freaking out. I can't fight this feeling all night.

"S-s-sorry, luvs. I gotta head home tonight. I promised my little bro I'd help him with something. Maybe another day, though."

They looked a little disappointed, but they understood. Agnetha and David already knew how important my siblings are to me.

"Luna's got nine sisters and a brother! I mean, can you imagine that?"

Sam seemed shocked to hear that.

"Wow, and I thought my one little cousin was a handful! But I always wanted a big family, so I think it'd be a lot of fun!"

"Y-y-yeah, it can be!" I said. "Life's never boring at the Loud House, that's for sure."

"Alright, folks. You guys can talk a bit more later. Time to start class." Mrs. Ligala said.

I had figured whatever was up with me would go away after class, but I was wrong. I kept thinking about it all day. For some reason, I could not get this girl's face out of my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about her voice, or those cute little piercings in her ears. It was like torture!

 _"Wait..." Luan's voice interrupted. "I remember that day. You locked yourself up in our room and said you had a stomach ache. How come you didn't tell me what was going on?"_

I didn't know for MYSELF what was going on, Lu. I was confused, and honestly kinda scared. I kept thinking all night long, and my thoughts always turned to the same question:

Am I gay?

The next morning was a bit easier. I managed to get a decent amount of sleep, and that must've cleared my mind. I was ready for school, and I felt like I was ready to see Sam again. If I had gotten over it all, I was still sure we'd be good friends.

"Oh, I like the new look, Sam!" I heard Mrs. Ligala say as students were walking in. I was already sitting up near the front.

I looked over and saw Sam standing there, and... I think that's when I figured it out.

She was wearing a new denim jacket now, and she had dyed a streak of blue into her bangs. I've never really been picky about fashion, but something about those two things just kinda... completed her look.

I think, seeing her that second time, is when I realized that I DO have a crush on her, and that I am bi. For a moment, I wondered why this was the first time I figured it out. But looking back, I kinda think it was always there, under the surface.

You remember Ms. DiMartino, Linc? When I was in middle school, I'd get distracted like all the boys around her. Back then I thought it was normal, that it was some weird thing about her that affected everyone. But looking back, I can see what the deal was. Her face, her laugh, her body, her... Uhh, I'm gonna get back on topic now...

Sam and Agnetha sat with me again. David was absent that day, I guess.

"Do you like what I've done with Sam, luv?" Agnetha asked me.

I looked over to Sam, half to be polite, and half cause, honestly, I really wanted to.

"Bah... bah..." Aw geez, not now... "Bah...ad-ass!" I spit out. Mrs. Ligala and some other kids looked my way.

"Oh, uh, sorry about the language."

She giggled again. Holy crap, is that laugh cute. I felt like I was melting.

"It's ok. I'm glad you like it! Agnetha gave me one of her old jackets, and she and my cousin helped with me hair. I wish you could've been there, too."

"Yeah, we coulda totally updated your look too, Lunes."

"Nah, I think Luna looks great as she is!" Sam said, as if she was trying her best to rock me like a hurricane.

"W-w-w-well, m-maybe next time!" I said.

"Hmm? You alright, Luna? You sound a bit ill." Agnetha asked.

"Y-yeah, just got a stomach ache, I-I think. It'll be f-fine."

After that, we ended up becoming a good group of friends. But I still couldn't act normal around Sam. With David, Agnetha, or both around I'd be fine, but if me and Sam were left alone, I'd find some excuse to run.

"Sorry, I gotta head home! I promised I'd play this EverCraft game with my bro!"

"Sorry Sam, my sister needs me to review her comedy act!"

"I gotta go to Lori's golf game!"

"Band practice!"

So on and so forth. After about a month and a half, maybe two months... well, you know what happened.

"It's a love letter, and it's addressed to L. Loud!" Lincoln yelled at the sibling meeting.

At that meeting, I allowed my hopes to rise up for a second. Could it be from Sam?

...No. It couldn't possibly be. There was only a one in ten shot that it was for me at all, and I had no reason to believe Sam was into me. I never knew her orientation, but what were the odds that she wasn't straight?

You guys all got hyped out about sending your own crushes signals. Me, I thought about it too. I thought of what kind of signal would get Sam's attention. But ultimately, fear overwhelmed me. What if Sam wasn't into chicks? What if she was into chicks, but not ME? What if she was a homophobe and thought I was disgusting for liking her?

I chickened out, and didn't give any signal. However, I kept my act up around everyone. Eventually, I checked the mail before our sibling meeting, and sure enough.

"L. Loud? This is the second letter!"

You guys know all this. I ran it in to Lori, she opened it and found the rose, and it said:

"Roses are red, they brighten our town, like your sweet smile, and your hair, which is..."

"Brown?"

Brown hair. That narrows it down a lot. If everybody had even odds, there was a 1/4 chance it was for me.

But as Luan, Lynn, and Lisa cheered, I didn't. Because I knew it wasn't for me.

"Luna, why aren't you cheering?" Leni asked.

And then Luan pointed out that, even though everybody else talked about their signal to their crush, I didn't.

"I didn't give one." I admitted to you guys. "The more I thought about it, the more I realized..."

As I was saying that last part, time froze up on me. I thought about coming clean, saying "Sam is a chick, and there's no way she's the one sending messages." But I had the same fears I had before. What would you guys do about me being into girls? I know we're kinda religious, but I don't know if it's enough that you'd hate me for it, say I was a sinner, and all that jazz.

"...Sam's way out of my league, dudes."

 _"So, you lied to us and made yourself feel even worse, because you were scared we'd hate you?" Lori asked. "Luna, you should know better. We wouldn-we don't hate you for your sexuality. You're still our sister."_

I know, sis. And I'm really, really grateful and happy about that now. But back then, I was too terrified to think straight... no pun intended, Luan. And I wasn't honestly lying about thinking she's out of my league. I mean, take a good look at Sammy. She is smokin'!

 _Sam started blushing, and Lincoln fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat._

Anyway, you guys tried to cheer me up, and Lucy gave us that second idea, about giving a token of our affection. I was still acting hyped about it, but then I thought... Why shouldn't I? I mean, this crush has been, well, CRUSHING me for a long time now. I don't know if I could keep my friendship with Sam going if I'm going to be a nervous wreck around her forever.

So, I decided to go for it. That day, I waited for the bus home instead of riding with everyone. I knew Sam would be on it. I decided my token would be my favorite guitar pick. It's not much, but it was symbolic. Whenever Sammy played her guitar, she'd have a little bit of me with her, you know?

"Roses are red, Mick Swagger is sick, my token for you is my favorite pick." I said to myself, trying to work up the courage to give it to her.

Sam and the gang got on the bus, and... they walked by me. I think they were too busy talking to notice I was there that day.

But I didn't do anything about it. I still couldn't fight my nerves back.

"Dream on, Lunes. You're the owner of a lonely heart..."

I just accepted it. Sam and I ain't gonna happen. I'm just a fool in the rain.

So the next day, I just let you guys know the truth. I bailed, because there's no way it's for me...

 _"And then the third letter." Lisa said._

Yep, the third letter.

"Dear L. Loud, Here's a third letter, 'cause I'm still feeling skittish, I dig your sweet sounds, and love of all things British."

I gotta say, I almost exploded when I heard that one. I mean, it HAD to be for me! And I let my hopes climb up too high. If it really was for me, maybe it COULD be from Sam!

I even let you guys help me go to Bangers & Mosh so I could meet with her. I wasn't even thinking at the time that if she was there, I'd be outing myself to you all.

And I'll gloss over the rest, since you were all there. Turned out to be Dad.

But hearing Mom and Dad's story... It clicked in me. Mom took a huge risk with those love letters, and judging by the fact that they got eleven freakin' kids now, it worked! Who's to say I couldn't take a shot like that, too? Even if the worst happened, at least I'd know I gave it my all!

That night, I tried to write the best note I could. I considered asking Lucy for help, but decided I shouldn't. You were all writing your own letters from your heart, and mine had to be from my heart too.

The next day when school was ending, I put my note in her locker, and I ran. I can't explain the feeling to you guys. It felt like I just dropped the weight of the world off my shoulders. I felt so happy, like a free bird let out of it's cage.

But then next came the wait. I watched for Sam to find the note. And sure enough, she walked by and opened her locker, the note falling down at her feet.

 **Dear Sam**

 **Roses are red, your lovely hair blue.**

 **I feel a whole lotta love, just looking at you.**

 **I think you're so rockin', please meet me at Bangers & Mosh at 7 pm tonight, so I can tell you myself.**

 **-Your secret admirer.**

I watched her as she read it, and... she was smiling! This was really happening!

That night, I left so I could be there in time. I told the host dude my situation, and he let me sit at a table to wait for her.

After a while, I saw her come in, and... wow. She was wearing this light blue dress, kinda like Leni's favorite dress, but it went down to her knees.

If I wasn't in love before, I was now.

"Luna?" I saw her say even though I couldn't hear her. She noticed me, and walked down to my table.

"Bah... bah... bah..." was all I could spit out.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, I was, uhh... exercising m-my throat! Yeah, I was singing earlier... H-Hi Sam! Please, sit!"

Sam sat with me, and all I could do was look down at my menu. Dang it, I worked up the courage to get her here, but now I'm too scared to talk!

"So, what are you doing here, Luna? Are you on a date?" she asked.

"N-n-no, not exactly..." I barely managed to say. "What about you? You're really dressed up..." I knew why she was here, of course, but I wasn't ready to spring it on her yet.

"Well, I got a note in my locker, and it's from a secret admirer! They asked me to meet them here tonight!"

"That's really cool!"

"Yeah. I hope it's who I think it is! I wanted them to ask me out for a while now."

She already has a crush... God, am I STUPID!

 **"** S-so, who did you want it to b-be, then?"

Sam smirked at me.

"I'll give you some hints. They have brown hair, their favorite color is purple, and they LOVE playing the guitar."

David. Yep, David Lifeson is her crush. Brown hair, purple clothes, and a guitar. Can't say I blame her, he was pretty cute, even though I always figured he and Agnetha were a thing.

"W-well, I'm sure Dave likes you too." I said, sadly... "I'll keep an eye out for him."

Sam didn't respond. She just got up and walked around the table over to me.

"Wh-what are you-"

Sam took my hand, and before I could spit anything else out, she tugged me out of my seat.

"I wasn't talking about Dave, Luna. I was talking about you." she said as she gave me a hug.

Holy shi-I mean, holy cow!

"M-m-me? Ummm... M-me?"

She giggled again. "Yes, you, Luna Loud. I'm gonna be honest, I liked you for a while now, but I never tried anything because I was afraid you weren't into girls."

"That's... that's how I felt about you!" I said. "I've been nervous around you since they first day we met..."

"I know, but for those few months I thought you were nervous because you were into Dave!"

"..."

Suddenly, we both started laughing. Here we were, two girls who liked each other, and we both ended up assuming the other liked the same boy.

"H-how did you know it was me that sent you the letter, then?"

"We sit together in class and look over each other's homework. I know your handwriting, silly."

"Oh."

Sam smiled at me, and I smiled back. She still had her arms around my neck, our faces inches apart. I was still a bloody nervous wreck, but knowing now that not only did Sam accept my feelings, but returned them, I felt calmer. I wasn't nervous like I was on a stage in front of a hundred thousand people anymore. I was nervous like I was on stage in front of one person, one who really mattered to me.

"So!" Sam said, finally escaping from the hug and going over to her seats. "Is this still a date? Cause I am STARVING!"

I don't think I ever had a bigger smile in my life than I did just then.

* * *

"And we've been going out ever since. Official girlfriend/girlfriend mode." Luna said. As she finished her story, she found herself getting pulled into a hug by Sam. She returned the hug, and looked over at her siblings.

She was surprised to see Lori and Luan hugging too, both of them crying.

"Th-that was the most bea-beautiful story!" Lori said, barely talking over her own sobbing.

"I don't ev-even have a good joke for this!" Luan said.

Lincoln looked like he was choking up. Next to him, though, Lisa still looked fairly emotionless.

"I am not typically one who displays any strong emotions. However..." Lisa took off her glasses and set them on the table.

And then she let out what sounded like a roar, tears falling from her eyes like a cartoon waterfall.

"THAT W-WAS THE MOST INCREDIBLE T-TALE I'VE EVER HEARD!" she yelled as she continued her crying, now clinging to Lincolns arm.

Luna then looked over to Sam, who had a tear in her eye too.

"I gotta agree, you did make it sound pretty good." she said.

Luna couldn't help but smile.

"You know... I left out my favorite part."

"What part, Lunie?"

Her smile turned into a wicked grin.

"The part where I kissed a girl, and I liked it."

Luna then kissed her girlfriend for the second time, prompting the other three girls and Lincoln to cry even harder.

After a moment, Lori stood up, having managed to stop for the time being.

"W-well, I guess we should head home, then. Do you and Sam need a lift?"

Sam nodded. "I was gonna call my aunt, but sure, if you're willing to take me home."

"Literally not a problem. Luan, could you go fetch Lynn for us, please? And..." Lori whispered the remainder of her sentence to Luan, who frowned, but went off to find her sister.

"Let's go, then, everyone."

As the group got ready to go, Lincoln stopped to help Lisa out of her booster seat.

"I despite those confounded things. Thank you, brother." she said as she walked off.

As Lincoln got ready to follow behind, he stopped when Luna walked up and put an arm around his shoulder.

"So, dude. How do you like her? Have I got good taste, or what?"

Lincoln blushed. "Y-yeah, she's pretty great. I like her."

Luna looked down at her brother, and let out a chuckle.

"Mmm-hmm, I can tell, bro. I'm cool with you having a little crush on her, just don't steal her away from me!" she joked.

 **This is really the first time I ever wrote a love story. Being eternally single, I can only hope I did a good job.**

 **This arc isn't over yet. The next story will focus on somebody else, and I can imagine you know who. We have some issues to discover and put to rest. It will be Very, Very Extraordinary. Well, that'll be the title, but I like to hope I can live up to it.**

"I'm home!" Sam yelled as she walked through her front door. It was quite a day, today. A nice date with her beautiful girlfriend, ending with the discovery of her girlfriend's family spying on them. But in the end, she really liked most of them. She thinks Luna's adorable little brother even had a crush on her. But the jock... there was something wrong with that girl.

"Sammy, you're home!" a young girl yelled out in a British accent, running up to Sam.

"Sorry I'm late, cuz!" she said as she knelt down to hug the younger girl. "Today was a wild ride, Tabby. I'll have to tell you all about it."


	10. Lynn

_**Sorry I've been silent. I visited my Dad for a couple weeks, and while I'm glad I did so and enjoyed myself, there were few opportunities to try and get some work done. Now that I'm back home, though, I can watch the episodes I missed, and go back to my slightly less slow update frequency on this and World of LoudCraft.**_

 _ **Now, one more thing to talk about before the story: Since the last chapter, I've been told that Mr. Savino revealed that the Loud family was already aware and accepting of Luna's sexuality and Sam's identity during 'L is for Loud'. While I hoped to not have to use this response in my fanfic, it's really the only one for this: alternate continuity, so it'll be ignored. I also gotta admit that I had my hopes up for a heartwarming "coming out" episode.**_

 _ **However, he also revealed on Instagram that Sam would be back due to popular demand, so that's good news! :D Hopefully the ship sets sail for real. And hopefully, I'm sure you guys are thinking, I'll shut up for now so we can see what's up with Lynn! Wish granted.**_

* * *

 **Lynn: Very, Very Extraordinary**

* * *

"Ugh!"

At a table in the middle of the Royal Woods mall food court, a young girl got up and stormed off. She didn't look behind as the other five people watched in bewilderment.

 _"Why should I sit there and listen to their bullcrap?"_ she said to herself in her mind. It was bad enough her sister turned out to be bi, she thought, but now she's gonna try and sell her family some sappy love story to make it all seem normal?

Screw that. Let Luna play her pity cards and get everyone on her side so she can look like the good guy and make Lynn look like the bad guy.

"One footlong meatball, please." she said to the guy at the Expressway counter. She had been so deep in thought, she barely recalled standing in the line to get there.

Lynn watched the man as he prepared her sandwich, trying to take her mind off things. This was way more than she was ready to deal with. Why couldn't it have just been a secret boyfriend, so they could get excited about that for a day, forget about it, and let things stay normal?

After a few moments, the guy finished making the sub, and Lynn paid for it and walked away. However, when she looked back at the tables, she saw that all the empty ones were right in the vicinity of her family's. The scene earlier must've caused people to keep their distance.

Sighing in defeat, Lynn went and sat about two tables away, behind Luna and Sam. She tried to ignore them, but she caught a glance of her sisters all trying not to cry. God, is that sob story really working on them? Even Lisa, the one who should be on LYNN'S side with all her science and stuff? Weak. All of them.

In her anger, Lynn practically destroyed her sandwich. She had eaten half in less than a couple minutes, and the sauce would've went everywhere if the paper wrap wasn't unfolded to catch it all. From the occasional bits of audio she could catch, she heard Luna talking about that whole love letter incident. If only she knew the truth then, she could've stopped this whole mess.

* * *

Lori listened carefully to Luna's story, She almost felt jealous, Luna and Sam's was WAY more romantic than her meeting Bobby at that golf game. It was like something out of those rom-coms she loved so much. And just like with those movies, she couldn't help but shed a few tears.

But while her ears were fully trained on what Luna was saying, Lori kept her eyes on Lynn. Now that the shock of Luna's reveal was clearing away, she found her attention focusing on that girl. What is up with her? How did nobody know she was a homophobe before? Why was Sam so defensive when Lori wanted to confront her about it?

This matter would need to be looked into further. At the very least, Lynn shut her mouth and left instead of trying to start a fight. For now, she figured, best to enjoy the story and give Luna the support she deserves.

* * *

 _"Thank God it's over!"_ Lynn thought to herself, finishing the last few bites of sub as Luna finally shut up. As expected, her sisters were starting up the waterworks. Even Lincoln was crying. Pussy.

The girl got up to throw away her trash. She wanted so badly to go over there, knock some sense into everybody's head, and confront Luna about her little freak show. But even with all of this, Luna was still her sister, and Lynn still had enough respect to not make a public show of it all, unlike the rest of them.

After scoring a beautiful 3-pointer with her balled-up papers that lifted her spirits, Lynn turned around, ready to presumably head home, when...

Oh, Jesus Christ...

They were kissing again. The other girls, Lincoln, and some complete strangers were even celebrating that bullcrap! But Lynn... that sight, combined with eating her sub way too fast, was starting to make something else rise up inside her.

"Hrgh-BLAAARGH!"

Thankfully, she made it to the trash can in time. Kinda ruined the fun of her earlier sport, though.

Turning back around again, Lynn saw... nothing. The girls and Lincoln had left.

"They didn't leave me behind, did they? Come on, I don't deserve THAT!"

Lynn looked around frantically, trying to see where they had gone. She eventually found Luan, the comedian approaching with an uncharacteristically disapproving look on her face.

"Where'd everyone go?" Lynn asked.

"We're all heading back to the van and going home."

"Thank goodness, I couldn't take another second of watching Luna and that dy-"

Luan's face turned more stern. "Sam is coming with us. We're dropping her off at her house."

Lynn looked shocked. They didn't seriously want to spend MORE of their time with that bimbo, did they?

"And you'll be sitting in the far back row with me." Luan added.

"What!? Why? You gonna tell me dumb jokes and stupid puns the whole way!?"

Luan's serious face wavered for a moment, showing a bit of hurt. But the girl remained steadfast. "For once in my life, Lynn, I'm completely serious. You've been a real jerk about this, and until we get home and meet up without Luna, we're keeping you quiet so you don't ruin the progress we've made with her."

"Oh, I see." Lynn said with a laugh. "You think you're gonna muscle me out so I can't speak my mind! What makes you think you can control me like that?"

In an instant, Luan completely changed her emotional state. She went from being serious and angry, to looking like a sad puppy orphan or something. The comedian tucked her head down and began shaking, like she was scared for her life.

"M-mom! D-Dad! I was tr-trying to test out my new joke at the mall, an-and Lynn just came up and hit me! Sh-she said my puns were the worst and that if I d-didn't shut up from now on, she'd shut m-me up!"

Lynn's jaw dropped as she watched her sister drop her face into her palms and begin to cry in pain. She knew she didn't even do anything, and she believed what she was seeing!

"You... you're completely deranged, you know that?"

Luan looked up, giving her younger sister a smirk. "Being crazy is my whole schtick. Now, let's go home, shall we?"

The older girl began to walk away, looking as if nothing had happened. Lynn followed far behind, a little afraid to get too close.

 _"Thank goodness she doesn't do that more often..."_ Lynn thought.

 _"Man, I should do that more often!"_ Luan thought at the same time.

* * *

As the group reached the door, Lori stood and held it open. Lisa, Lincoln, and Luna walked by, all giving her thanks as they did. Lastly, Sam walked out, and Lori shut the door and ran up behind her.

"Hey, Sam? Mind if we talk a sec?"

The girl turned to Lori and smiled. Despite their horribly rough meeting, Sam had nothing against her now.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Well, first of all, I'm really sorry about, you know... spying on you, and then threatening your life... all that stuff." Lori looked away nervously as she talked.

"It's ok. You did both those things because you really care about your sisters and your brother. Honestly, I really respect you for that."

Lori couldn't help but blush a little. Though a more serious issue drew her attention back.

"Second of all... Why did you want me to keep quiet about Lynn? Luna's gonna find out about her sooner or later."

Sam's smile died when she heard that question. "I-I know that it's gonna be unavoidable, but I just... I'm really worried about how Lunie will take it..."

Lori nodded. Luna was upbeat and confident in almost every other aspect of her life, but she'd always been a nervous wreck about romance, even before her realization.

"Luna's still not really... adjusted to her sexuality yet, you know? I've known about myself for a while, so I'm a little easier with it... but she's still afraid to go on public dates with me. I almost talked her into it today, but she insisted on inviting our friends to make it a double date, so people wouldn't judge us. I kinda had to force that first kiss outta her."

"But her biggest fear was always... always you guys. She was so scared that some or even all of you wouldn't accept her, or even hate her, and it gave her nightmares... Once she even cried herself to sleep on the phone with me over it... I was afraid that if we told her at the mall, after the rest of you guys got her hopes up, that she'd... break down..."

Wow... Hearing all of that made Lori feel like somebody put a bunch of weight on her heart. How could their sister be hurting so much, and they didn't even notice? SHE didn't even notice.

"Some big sister I am..." she said to herself. Sam didn't seem to catch it.

"Well," Lori continued, louder this time. "We'll try and do something with Lynn. Worst-case, we'll have her keep quiet until we can help Luna come out."

"Thanks, Lori." Sam said with another smile. "You guys really are as nice as Luna said."

As they reached the van, Luna was standing there holding a door open for Sam. The girl gave her a hug and a little peck on the cheek before getting in. Sam got into the front row, and Luna sat close next to her.

Lori smiled, happy to see Luna more open with Sam now that the present company knew. She got into the driver's seat to wait for the remainder of their company. And after a few minutes, Luan came into view, followed by a very disgruntled looking Lynn. The two got into the far back row.

"Hey, Lynn!" Luna said, her better mood not being deterred. "You feeling all right, sis? I was worried about you."

Everybody else's eyes snapped to the thirteen year old in fear, either directly or through a back-view camera. Lynn was about to speak up, but movement beside her caught her eye. Luan was sitting there, holding up some sort of... make-up? Luan doesn't wear...

The words "Fake Black Eye" on the container stood out to her.

"I... uhh... didn't feel very good. Sorry... about that." the girl said through her teeth.

"Oh, it's ok, sis. You still sound kinda sick, though."

"Yeah, I feel sick alright..." Lynn mumbled, causing a dirty look from Luan.

Thankfully, Lynn heeded her sister's warning and stayed quiet through the ride. She was far back enough that she couldn't see Luna and Sam cuddling together affectionately, which was warming everybody else's heart.

Eventually, they got to Sam's house and dropped her off, with Luna promising to text her as soon as they got home.

"Man, you two are just like me and Bobby, now." Lori said to herself as she started driving again.

Luna blushed a little. "I-I guess... I mean, I thought you were just crazy when you first hooked up with him, but now I kinda get it..."

Lincoln smiled. As crazy as this day started, it really couldn't have ended better... Unfortunately, seeing Lynn in the row behind him, angrily pushing up against the door away from Luan, reminded him that it isn't quite a happy ending yet...

 _"Why is she like this? What happened to her?"_

* * *

Eventually, the van pulled up back at the house. It was the early evening, so it was still fairly active inside. Everybody got out and headed inside, but they were stopped by the siblings who had stayed home waiting inside.

"So, did you find anything out!? Does she have a boyfriend? Is he cute?" Lola bombarded them with questions right away.

"I bet he's a rocker like her!" Lana added.

"No, I think he'd, like, be a classical music guy! Compacting personalities, you know!" Leni tried to explain.

However, as Luna came in behind them, they all shut up.

"I mean... I hope you guys had fun... at the mall... doing nothing wrong!" Lana said, trying her best to recover.

"Relax, guys, Luna knows we were spying..." Lori sighed.

"But did she have a boyfriend?" Lucy said, causing everybody else to jump.

The crowd looked at Luna expectantly, causing her to become nervous and uncomfortable. Lynn looked ready to speak up, but she didn't. Eventually, Lincoln stepped forward.

"No, she didn't have a boyfriend. She was just hanging out with her friends after all!" he said. He figured he wasn't TECHNICALLY lying.

"Aww..." the other sisters said, disappointed, before going back to their business. Luna silently hugged her brother, thanking him for the rescue.

The current group headed upstairs. Luna split off to head to her room, already sending a text to Sam before shutting the door behind her. The rest went into Lori's room.

"Ok, now that we can talk about this..." Lori began. "What the heck do we do!?"

Lisa was looking through a notepad. "I must admit to you, siblings... I did determine a while ago that, between the ten of us females, there were decent odds that one of us would grow to be homosexual or bisexual... And I did believe Luna to be among the most likely in such an instance. However, I apologize for not taking that into account today... And especially for not foreseeing circumstances regarding Lynn's reaction."

Lynn sighed, knowing this would be the main topic. "And what exactly is WRONG with my reaction? Why am I supposed to just accept this like it's normal?"

"Because there's nothing wrong with it, Lynn." Lori said angrily. "Who Luna loves does not change her at all."

"Wait... Why are you only just now talking about this?" Luan chimed in. "You've gotten along fine with Clyde's parents, and they're gay."

"W-Well... I mean... It's different with guys!" she shouted out. "Two dudes decide to bone each other? Who cares! But girls should be better than that!"

The other three girls just looked at her with their mouths open, surprised.

"Uhh... what does 'bone each other' mean?" Lincoln asked.

"NOTHING!" Lori shouted out, louder than she intended. "Just... forget you heard that... And Lynn... We'll try and think about this tomorrow. Until then, keep your mouth shut to the others, and ESPECIALLY to Luna!"

"And why would I do that?" Lynn said.

"One, because the three of us are perfectly willing to be witnesses for Luan." Lori said, pointing back to the comedian. "And two, even if you're homophobe or whatever else, you should still have the very basic respect for your sister to not do this to her."

Lynn stood there, angrily thinking about all of this. Why are they being do defensive? Why are they trying to quiet her.

"...Fine! Only because she's my sister!" she finally said. "But I'm only giving you until tomorrow night. After that, I'm going to Mom and Dad!"

As she said that, she angrily stomped out of the room, shutting the door loudly behind her.

Lori sighed. "What are we going to do about this... We need to help Luna come out and accept herself, but we need to deal with Lynn and her homophobia too! We can't do both at once..."

The four still there thought about it. Suddenly, Lincoln walked up to Lisa.

"Hey, Lisa? Do you know anything about psychology?"

Lisa responded with a scoff. "Please. Did Marie Curie have knowledge on ionizing radiation?"

...

"...Yes, Lincoln. I know things about psychology."

"Well, I have an idea, if you're willing to help me. I just need to call a friend, and we can do this tomorrow..."

* * *

The next day began about as you'd expect. Luna was still in a good mood. Despite how it happened, she still felt... free after some of her siblings responded positively to her sexuality. Like somebody took some serious weight off her shoulders. Unfortunate that she didn't know that things weren't all happy behind the scenes.

Lynn, being the opposite right now, kept a sour mood. She still couldn't understand how her siblings were so defensive of that... nonsense, that they'd go so far as to threaten her as they did! But sadly, they were winning, and she'd keep her mouth shut for right now.

"Hey, Lynn! Feelin' any better?" Luna said as she practically skipped behind the couch.

"Hrmph." Lynn simply grunted, not wanting to talk to the girl who so betrayed her and her family.

"Oh, guess not... Don't worry, you'll get better soon!"

 _"Yeah, as soon as I tell Mom and Dad tonight and they put a stop to this bullcrap."_ she thought to herself.

Lynn sat there, half watching a baseball game, when she heard a knock at the door.

"SOMEONE WANNA GET THAT!?" she yelled out, not wanting to be bothered.

Eventually, she heard someone coming down the stairs. She didn't quite know how she could tell it was Lincoln. But the boy opened the door.

"Hey, Clyde! Glad you could come over."

"I'm here to help however I can, buddy." Lynn heard the other boy say.

Wait, help? They didn't drag him into this mess, did they? Lynn was never too close to Clyde, but she'd hate to have to deal with him being against her, too. With two gay dads, he'd probably be angrier than anyone else.

She tried to listen to the two boys whispering, but couldn't catch what they said. Eventually, they went upstairs.

"So, you need me to help Lisa talk to Lynn? Why?"

Lincoln listened as he walked up the stairs with his friend.

"Well, we're trying to figure out something about her, and we think that, since you know therapy, you could help us out a bit."

"I guess I ca-"

"And... I hate to say this, but I'm worried that it's something you might know better than us."

That caught Clyde's full attention. What could Lynn be dealing with that Clyde knows better than them?

"You see, we recently learned that... one of... Luan's friends..." Lincoln fabricated another half-lie to keep the truth covered for now. "Is bisexual... and we found out that Lynn wasn't quite accepting of it."

"Wait, what?" Clyde said, surprised. "Lynn's a homophobe?"

"Yeah, I think so... But I don't think it's just that simple. We think there's a reason for it."

"Man, I never knew... My parents like her, too... But I'll help!"

As they got to Lisa's door, Lincoln knocked and opened the door, and both boys went in.

After a while, Lincoln came back down the stairs, alone.

"Hey, Lynn? Could you come help me and Clyde with something?"

Lynn looked at him. She was fairly suspicious about this.

"What do you need MY help for? You two don't play sports or anything."

"Well, we kinda wanted you to give us some advice about something. You know... in private?" he responded nervously.

Yeah, this was definitely weird. Lynn and Linc got along and all, but she was never one of his go-to's for advice, unless he was truly desperate and couldn't find help from the other girls.

"Fine, I guess..." Lynn said, reluctantly getting up and following her brother.

They went upstairs silently, and Lynn followed Lincoln as he turned right. She figured he was headed to his room, where Clyde would be waiting, but instead he went to Lisa and Lily's room.

"Uhh... why are we-"

Looking into the room, she saw that there was a long black chair in the middle. Lisa was sitting at one end, at her desk chair. Clyde was sitting at the other end, holding a notepad.

"Good afternoon, Lynn." Clyde said. "Please, sit down."

"Ok..." Lynn walked into the room and sat on the chair. "What the heck is all this?"

"Lincoln and Lisa told me you were having some problems. We want to try and help you."

"Problems? What pro... Oh my God, they told you about it?"

Clyde nodded.

"And I guess you're perfectly fine with Luna dating a chick?"

"LUNA'S THE-" Clyde began to yell out, before Lincoln managed to cover his mouth.

"We hadn't told him THAT much!" Lincoln said.

Lynn's response, however, was to burst into laughter.

"Oh man, this is so rich!" she said between laughs. "You guys brought Clyde in because you thought the guy with gay parents could 'fix' me? There's nothing wrong with me!"

"We believe that your feelings regarding these recent events may stem from something that has happened to you." Lisa explained. "We aren't going to forcefully 'correct' you, we merely want to see if we can help find a solution that is positive for both of us."

Lynn stopped laughing. She glared at her younger sister for a moment.

"Yeah... no. I'm outta here."

As she got up to exit the room, she found herself being tugged back.

"Lynn, please! Come on!" she heard Lincoln saying as he pulled her arm back.

"No, Linc, I'm not doing this crap!"

"Come on, please! For me?"

There he goes, trying the "for me?" thing. Lincoln always used it on his older sisters for stuff, and all the girls would use it on him, Lynn included. She likes to think that she's the only one immune to it, though.

 _"Just keep walking, Lynn. Don't look back. Don't look ba-"_

Unfortunately, she did, and she saw his face, sporting big eyes and a pout that would give Charles a run for his money. Even with her tough exterior being even tougher than usual right now, it melted right though.

 _"Dang it."_

"Fine! I'll play along for 10 minutes. But after that, it's over!" she yelled.

Lynn flopped back down on the seat. Clyde began looking through some notes.

"Ok, Lynn. To start with, why don't you explain your current feelings." he said.

"Take a guess, genius." she snapped back.

"Well, my hypothesis would be that you are feeling agitated and possibly being emotionally influenced by your p-"

"Uhh, Lisa, I think that was rhetorical." Lincoln stopped her.

"...Yes, of course." she responded.

Clyde cleared his throat.

"Ok, well... Lynn, why do you think you feel so upset about Luna's sexuality?"

Lynn sat up. "Because it's gross? It's unnatural? It's freakish? Take your pick. Honestly, you guys should be explaining to me why I SHOULDN'T think it's wrong!"

Lisa and Lincoln both looked over to Clyde, who seemed rather stunned. Lynn noticed and looked over to him to.

"Oh, I didn't mean YOUR dads, Clyde. That's different, their relationship is fi-"

"No, no. I understand." Clyde interrupted her. "I've dealt with this before. Let's just keep digging."

"Now, when do you think you began feeling this way?"

Lynn thought for a moment. She couldn't really pinpoint a starting point.

"Dunno." she said.

"Ok... do you remember the first time you can recall feeling that way?"

Lynn looked back. She knew Luna and Sam wasn't the first time she felt that way... But at the same time, she couldn't think of anything else.

"Now that you mention it, I don't really know that, either..."

Lisa nodded, taking down some notes.

"Yes, as I expected, I believe we will have to try something else... Clyde, could you please fetch the materials Lucy lent us?"

Clyde got up and walked to Lisa's desk, grabbing a small ornate box. The thing gave off a creepy vibe, so Lynn could definitely tell it came from her roommate.

Opening the box, Lisa pulled out what looked like pocket watch, along with a small book that said "Introduction to Hypnosis".

"What? You're gonna try and hypnotize me!? Since when do you believe in that kind of stuff, Lis?" she asked.

"Actually, hypnosis has been shown to ba verified method of psychology. While Lucy's purposes for this kit stem from her superstitious hobbies, I believe I should be able to make proper scientific use of it."

Lynn scoffed. "Yeah, and what are you gonna do? Make me act like a chicken? Brainwash me so I can be some kind of puppet for Luan?"

"Negative. That is the purely ridiculous side of hypnosis. We are merely going to open your mind, so that you can further reach into your memories and we can discuss these topics more effectively. Now, please lay back..."

Lynn considered getting up and leaving. After all, why should she deal with this garbage? But she promised them to play along for 10 minutes, and she has at least been trying to be a girl of her word...

So she, reluctantly, listened, laying back on the seat. She expected Lisa to jump up onto the arm of the chair, dangling the watch inches from her face, but the little girl instead handed it to Lincoln.

"You're gonna make Linc do it?" she asked.

"I feel that Lincoln's voice and presence will be more calming than mine, and be beneficial to the process. Plus, I'm too short to do it." Lisa responded. "He's read the instructions, so I have faith in his ability to do this."

Lynn sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

Lincoln stood at the side of the chair. As Lynn expected, he dangled the watch down, and slowly moved it side to side.

"Ok, Lynn. Focus your eyes on the watch, and your ears on my voice. Drown everything out, and keep your mind clear." the boy said.

Lynn was tempted to just play pretend, get this over worth, and get the F outta here. But for some reason, she felt compelled to listen to her brother's voice. Her eyes stayed on the watch, going back and forth with it. It was kinda creepy how it was always facing her, instead of turning in different directions.

"Now I want you to try and relax. Keep yourself calm, and take some deep breaths. Don't worry about anything else but me and the watch..."

She thought she heard Lisa talking, but it was out of focus, like she was in another room. The watch, she noticed, began to slow down.

"If you're feeling relaxed now, go ahead and close your eyes."

Lincoln noticed that, as he was saying that, Lynn already allowed her eyes to shut. She wasn't asleep though, merely laying there, breathing steadily.

Lisa began to attach what looked like suction cups with wires on them to Lynn's arms and head, being gentle so as to not disturb her. All of the wires went to a small metal box, which Lisa grabbed and carried with her as she walked to sit next to Lincoln.

"She is now prepared." she whispered in Lincoln's ear. "I will speak in whisper now, so as to not risk my voice breaking her current state."

"Ok... Lynn, I'm going to ask you some questions now. Stay relaxed, and answer the best you can..."

Lincoln listened as Lisa continued to whisper.

"Gross! Do we really have to talk about that?" Lincoln whispered back.

Lisa nodded, making Lincoln frown.

"I want you to think back on when you started puberty, Lynn." he said. "What was it like for you?"

Lynn didn't really move or open her eyes, but she began to respond.

"It was really sucky. I felt all cranky, and Mom had to talk to me all about my 'special friend' visiting every month... which really just means a bunch of bleeding and bloating. And she STILL yells at me for not wearing my training bra! It ain't like there's anything there to-"

"OK, OK, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Lincoln said loudly, his skin nearly turning green. "T.M.I., Lynn..."

Lisa's machine began making a few noises, and a green light came on.

"Let's focus on romance... Did you begin to feel attraction to others around you?"

Lynn seemed to think for a moment.

"Kinda, I guess... I did start checking guys out more than usual. I figured out I like guys with nice butts." she said, not really realized it was her brother she was telling these things to.

"Alright..." Lincoln said, still feeling ill. "Now, don't flip out at this question..."

"Were you feeling anything towards girls, too?"

That question caught Clyde's attention. Considering Lynn's open homophobia, she expected her to totally break out of the hypnosis and ruin everything. Quietly, he walked over to Lincoln and Lisa.

"Why are you asking her something like that?" he whispered to them. Lisa was about to respond when Lynn began talking.

"...No. If you're trying to figure out if I'm a lesbian in denial, the answer is no, I'm not."

Lisa looked down at her machine, which still had a green light on. "One of my theories was that Lynn may also be a homosexual or bisexual, but in extreme denial. But it would seem that this is not the case, as you can see by my lie detection device."

Clyde checked out the detector as Lisa resumed giving Lincoln directions.

"...Oh, God! No way am I bringing that up!" he whispered back to Lisa.

"I'm her brother, I'm already learning to much abou- ...Fine. But only to help Luna..."

Lincoln cleared his throat, turning his attention back to Lynn.

"Lynn... Have you been in any romantic or sexual relationships?" he said, barely managing to not choke on the words.

Lynn didn't really even think before responding.

"Nope, never. I don't have time for hand-holding and smooching and all that crap! And sex could throw my game off even IF I had a guy to do it with, so heck no to that!"

Lincoln couldn't help but sigh with relief. However, Lynn continued.

"Besides, it's bad enough all the other girls on my baseball team are getting boyfriends and crap!"

The three couldn't help but take notice of the annoyance in her voice. Why would she care about her teammates getting into relationships?

"Why does that upset you so much?" Lincoln asked. "Did something go wrong?"

"Uhh, yeah it did! It all started a while back..."

* * *

It was the second to last practice before our first playoff game. I was the team captain, so it was my job to get the girls kicked into shape!

"Ok, ladies!" I yelled, standing in front of them. "We got one more practice to go, and we want to make sure we're at 150% capacity! So, I expect to see you all here bright and early Saturday, got it!?"

Usually, I'd get a nice little cheer of "Yes, Ma'am!" But today, most of the girls were acting a bit weird.

"Uhh, Lynn? We can't have practice on Saturday." my friend Holly told me.

"Practice is ALWAYS on Saturday! What's so different this time!?" I replied.

That's when Rhonda spoke up.

"Saturday is the Jr. Prom!" she said.

I remember getting pretty peeved by this point.

"So? Who cares if some sissy dance is on Saturday? We're in the play-offs!"

"I care! Francisco already asked me out, and I bought a dress. Sorry, Lynn, but I can't cancel on him!" Rhonda said.

"Yeah, and I'm going with George! It's almost our 3-month anniversary!" Holly said.

After that, probably over half the team started gushing about this crap! All jabbering on about their boyfriends and dresses and make-up! It was like being tortured by a million Lori's!

"Aren't you going to go, Lynn?" someone asked. I don't recall who.

"Uhh, heck no! I've got better things to do than put on a dress and twirl around with some loser for 6 hours!" I yelled at them. "I'm gonna be practicing so we can go to the finals!"

And then, it began.

"Pssh! I bet Lynn didn't even get asked out to the dance!" Laila said. We never liked each other, and she was jealous that I always did better than her.

A few girls started laughing, and then she continued.

"You know, maybe they all thought that Lynn was a boy! That would explain a lot!"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled at her. But they kept laughing at me. "I coulda got any boy I wanted to go with me! I just don't want to!"

"Don't want to? ...Oh, I see!" she said, with this stupid, ugly, evil grin on her face.

"You want us girls to skip the dance so we can get all dirty and sweaty with you... You like girls, don't you!?"

Suddenly, all the girls stopped laughing. I heard a bunch of gasps, and I started to get really mad.

"Uhh, no, I don't like girls!" I said.

"Then how come you're blushing?" Laila replied. I guess I was red 'cause I was angry. "C'mon, Loud, just admit that you're gay!"

I was gonna yell something REALLY bad, but there were whispers coming from my team...

"You know, now that I think about it, I think she checked me out in the locker room once!"

"You think she has a thing for any of her sisters?"

"What if Ronnie Anne Santiago was secretly dating HER, instead of her brother?"

I don't know if anything ever made me that angry before. The whole team thought I was a lesbian now! They were saying all these gross things, making fun of me!

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I recall yelling, and everything in front of me being a blur, except Laila. And then suddenly, I'm tackling her, throwing her down onto the ground and landing on top of her.

I felt something soft, and I look down and see my hand right on her boob! The one thing she had me beat in, I guess.

"Eww, stop groping me!" she yelled out, grabbing my arm and pulling it off.

"I-I didn't mean to-"

"See, girls! I told you Loud was a dyke!"

Before I could do anything else, I saw the team standing around us. They all started chanting...

"Dyke! Dyke! Dyke! Dyke! Dyke! Dyke! Dyke! Dyke!"

It was all just... so infuriating. I just began growling.

"GrrrrrrrrrrAAHHHHHH!" And then I hit her right in her face. That shut those bitches up real quick.

I hit her a couple more times, and then suddenly I got lifted up off of her. I looked back, And Coach Pacowski was pulling me away.

"What in the Desperate Housewives is goin' on here!?" he yelled.

"Loud tried to sexually assault me!"

"Nuh-uh! I was just gonna REGULAR assault you!" I said back to Laila. I tried to get back at her, but I was still being held away.

"Ok, that's enough! Laila, and the rest of you girls, you go run 10 laps for egging this on! Don't think I didn't hear you all chanting those slurs!"

"And you, Lynn..." Coach said as he put me down. "Since you LIKE running laps, your punishment is to just go home early today! See you on game day!"

"Game day!? But we got one more practice on Saturday!"

"Nah, today was the last one after all. I forgot about the dance! Hope you have fun at it!" he said. And then I heard him mumble something like "I wonder if Agnes will chaperone with me."

I was just really mad, though, and I stormed off. Right at the edge of the field, I walked past these two girls. I knew one of them from class, this emo chick named Margie or something. And she was holding hands with another girl.

Seeing them after all of that suddenly made me even angrier

"OUTTA MY WAY, QUEERS!"

I pushed one of them out of my way and went right by. And then-

* * *

"Ok, Lynn, that's enough." Lincoln said. The girl stopped talking.

"Man, I wasn't expecting all of that." Clyde whispered to the group. "That Laila girl sounds really nasty."

Lisa was deep in thought, and didn't really respond right away. Lincoln went back to speaking to Lynn.

"So, is that the first time you can recall feeling angry at anyone for feeling gay?"

Lynn stayed silent for a moment.

"...Yeah, I guess that's the first." she responded.

"That's that, then." Clyde said. "She's homophobic because of what her baseball team did to her... As much as I hate to say this, I can get how it happened..."

"Hold on." Lisa finally spoke up. "I have one more question to ask before we settle our conclusion."

"Lynn!" she said, speaking up so the girl could hear her. "Who is Francisco?"

Although Lynn's eyes were still closed, she visibly showed confusion.

"Uhh, he's the dude I have a crush on from my baseball team. Remember? I told you all about him before!"

BEEP!

The machine in Lisa's hands made a small noise, and the light turned red. Lincoln and Clyde both gasped, while Lisa continued.

"But there are two contradictions present, Lynn. One, you have been referring to the baseball team in your story as being all-female. And two, Francisco was mentioned as the name of another girl's love interest."

Lynn nervously shifted. "W-Well, I... I must've been confused."

BEEP!

"He's actually on the football-"

BEEP!

"H-He didn't return my-"

BEEP!

"OK!"

Lynn shot up out of the chair, opening her eyes. The stress removed her from hypnosis.

"Ok... I'll tell you the truth..." she said. "There is... There is no Francisco..."

The trio looked to the device, which didn't beep. Instead, the light turned green again.

"But..." Lincoln started. "Why did you make him up? Who was your crush during that whole love letter thing?"

Lynn simply sighed.

"I... I didn't have a crush during that. I made it all up. I don't even know a guy named Francisco, I just picked the name I remember one of the girls saying..."

"Why make up the crush, though?"

"Cause I didn't want to be left out! You were all so excited about it... Even Luna got her hopes up! How could I tell you all that I never had a crush on anyone!?"

"Never... You never had a crush before?" Clyde asked. Lynn seemed to become sadder.

"No... I haven't..." The machine didn't beep. "I don't even know what it's like... Sure, I've found guys hot and stuff, but I never really... You know... LIKE liked anyone before. I didn't want you guys to know that I'm some sort of freak like that."

"Aromantic."

Everybody turned to Lisa's voice.

"Aero-what?" Lincoln asked.

"Aromantic. A term for an individual who experiences little or no romantic feelings or attractions toward others. It is independent from sexual orientation."

"See!?" Lynn yelled. "There's even a science-y label for it! I really am just some kind of weirdo!"

Lynn began to do something that the others rarely saw from her. The last time of note being when Nana, Pop-Pop's wife, died.

She began crying.

Clyde just sat in stunned silence, this view being completely new to him. Lisa was taking notes. Lincoln, however, walked forward, slowly reaching out and hugging his sister.

"Lynn, we don't think you're a freak..."

Lynn allowed herself to be hugged, lifting an arm around her brother to wipe tears from her eyes.

"Y-y-you don't?"

"No, of course not! No matter who you like, or even if you don't like anyone, you're still a part of our family. We still love you, and we always will."

Lynn continued sobbing into her brother's shoulder as he plucked a few of the lie detector wires off of her. Eventually, she lifted herself out of the hug.

"Th-thanks, Lincoln..." she said, wiping her eyes with her arm again.

"Now... I need to ask you something difficult, Lynn." the boy said.

"Wh-what?"

"Now that we've gotten all of this out... Do you think that, maybe, you know what Luna is going through?"

Lynn, still sobbing a little, didn't answer right away, just looking around at the three watching her expectantly.

"Luna..." She finally said. "Oh my God... I was so... I was so horrible! She doesn't deserve that..."

"It's ok, Lynn." Lincoln said. "Now that you're over it... why don't you help us help her? That way, you can support her and be the great younger sister she DOES deserve?"

Lynn couldn't help but smile a bit. "O-ok, I can do that..."

"Most excellent!" Lisa said. "If I may, shall I propose that we celebrate these uplifting results with some ice cream?"

"Sure!" Lincoln said. "Ice cream for all of us! And then we can get together with Lori and Luan to start planning!"

The three Louds cheered as they exited the room. Behind them, Clyde stopped to think.

"I didn't really help out all that much..." he said to himself. Meanwhile, Lincoln looked back into the room.

"You can still get ice cream with us, buddy!" he said.

"Well... OK!" Clyde said as he followed them out.

* * *

 _ **Well, it's good to see Lynn feeling a little better about it all. I only wish more people with resentment in their hearts could be cured in one good session of amateur therapy.**_

 _ **Now, there'll be one more chapter in this section, but it'll be more of an epilogue. After that, we'll likely go back to the one-shot formula I pretty much forgot about after my Lana story for a while. Since we're now over the halfway-point with the Loud girls, I think our favorite halfway-point will be the subject I use next.**_


	11. Luna: Part 3

**Luna and Sam: Even More Than Anyone**

* * *

 _A few days later..._

In the upstairs of the Loud House, three girls were standing in one of the bedrooms. Two of them, both rocker girls, sat on the bottom of a bunk bed. The other, a smaller girl with a ponytail, was standing before them.

"And that's about it..." Lynn said, looking down at the floor in shame.

The two other girls, Luna and Sam, both looked deep in thought.

"Wow... I didn't know you felt that way, sis." Luna said. "I'm really sorry..."

"No, Luna! You have NOTHING to be sorry about!" Lynn responded, looking her in the eye. "I was going through my own problems, but I had no right to be so horrible. It doesn't matter who you love, I'm happy for you and I've got your back."

Luna smiled, feeling a couple tears coming on. Meanwhile, Lynn turned to Sam.

"And Sam... I'm sorry about the way I talked to you at the mall. You're really cool, and I'm glad my sister found someone that makes her happy. I hope you can forgive me."

Sam didn't respond for a moment. But then she got up, walked forward, and gave Lynn a hug.

"It's alright, little dudette." she said as she let Lynn out of the hug, not wanting to push it too far. "The past is the past."

Sam backed up, sitting back down on the bed and grabbing hold of Luna's hand. Lynn looked at their hands, and smiled when she felt nothing negative about it.

"I'll let you guys get ready, then." she said, heading for the door. "Everyone's waiting for you downstairs, and we'll be prepared to back you up!"

Watching the girl exit the room and close the door, Sam felt Luna's grip tighten.

"So... you ready to do this, Lunie?"

"I-I don't know... What if another of my sisters is like how Lynn was before? Wh-what if... What if my p-parents hate me?" she said nervously.

Sam smiled. "Well, if it comes to that, then we'll just have to say it's their loss… But at least you'll know that you had the courage to stand up before them and let them know. And you've got me, a bunch of your sisters, and your brother backing you up. I've been through this, and it feels a lot better once you get it out."

Luna thought silently for a moment. But then she looked her girlfriend in the eyes… those beautiful blue eyes… and smiled back to her.

"Ok, let's do it!"

They both got up, still not releasing each other's hands, and went to the door. Before Luna could open it, though, Sam stopped her.

"Hmm?"

Pulling Luna's arm, Sam brought the girl closer and pressed her lips against hers. Although Luna was caught by surprise, they both just stood there for a second, enjoy the sensation, before Sam let her go.

"For good luck." She said.

Luna's face was no beet red, and her smile turned into a huge grin.

" _That gets better every time…"_ she thought to herself.

* * *

"Ok, we're all here except Luna!"

Lynn Loud Sr. was sitting on the couch in the living room. After completing a head count, they determined that the third oldest was the only one now missing.

"Do you mind telling us why you needed to call a family meeting, Lori?" Rita asked her daughter, who was standing by the bottom of the stairs.

"I'll let Luna tell you, if she literally ever makes it down here!" she yelled the last few words the stairs.

Everyone talked amongst themselves, those knowing the reason for the meeting keeping their mouths shut. Eventually, Lori stepped aside, revealing Luna coming down from the stairs and entering the room.

"H-Hi everyone!" Luna said. Everyone stopped chatting and turned to her, most of them with smiles on their faces.

"Hello, Luna." Rita said. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah! I'm f-fine!"

Rita looked unsure. "You don't sound too hot… Do you have a fever?" You're kinda red, too."

She got up, going over to her daughter and putting her hand on the girl's forehead.

"Mom! I'm not sick!" Luna yelled, nudging her mother's hands away. She giggled as she said it, not meaning any harm.

"Well, tell us why we're here already!" Lola yelled out, feeling a little impatient.

"Lola!" Lynn Sr. snapped back. "That's very impolite! Luna will tell us in good time."

Luna looked out at the faces of her family. Those that knew were all sitting together in the back of the room, watching her. Her parents and Lily were on the couch. The twins and Leni all sat on the floor, with Lana swatting away Leni's passive attempts to brush, braid, or otherwise do anything to the younger girl's messy hair. She couldn't see Lucy at first, but then suddenly found the white stripes of the girl's sleeves and stockings sticking out in front of the fireplace, where she was standing.

"Y-yeah… well… this is kinda… i-important…" she said, trying her best to fight her nerves.

"Well, go ahead and tell us, honey!" Rita said, fighting back the urge to check her fever again.

"Umm… Well… You see… I'm…"

Luna could feel the nerves winning. Even with Sam's advice, she was still barely fighting back the bad thoughts. What if Lola thought it was disgusting and made a scene? What if Lucy thought it was the work of demons or something? What if Leni thought… Well… What if Mom and Dad thought it was some kind of horrible sin?

She was now considering calling the meeting a false alarm, and running back up into Sam's arms, and just staying with her in secret, but then she looked back to the others.

Lori and Lincoln were watching with anticipation. Lisa, as usual, seemed more concerned with studying everything and all the reactions from the situation. Luan and Lynn, however, were both smiling at her. Upon noticing Luna was looking directly at them, Lynn gave a supportive thumbs-up and nodded her head in approval. Luan held two ears behind Lynn and chuckled to herself a little, but Luna could feel the same support from that action regardless.

She couldn't let them down…

"Mom… Dad… Ev-everyone…" she said, getting their full attention back.

"I'm... I'm…"

"I'm bi…"

The reaction wasn't quite what she expected. Most of them looked confused.

"You're by? By what? The stairs?" Leni asked.

"I think she was going to say she was buying something, until you interrupted her!" Lana yelled out. "Is it a present!?"

"N-no!" Luna said. "I mean… I'm… bi… bi…" she couldn't' seem to get it all the way out.

"…Oh!" Rita yelled out, her eyes getting wide. "Luna… Do you mean… you're…"

"What? What's she buying!?" Lynnard said. Rita leaned over, about to whisper into her husband's ear, when Lucy stepped forward out from the fireplace.

"I think she means she is bisexual." She said, in her usual, emotionless tone.

"Bisexu—Oh my!" Lynn Sr. said. "Luna… is that it?"

Slowly, the girl nodded her head.

"Oh… oh wow…. I didn't… I didn't expect… that…" he said.

"Uhh… what does 'bi-sec-shu-all' mean?" Leni asked.

Rita smiled to her. "W-Well honey… it means that Luna… Well…" It was hard to put it in terms Leni could easily grasp.

Thankfully, though, Lori stepped forward.

"It means… Well, you know how a lot of girls like guys? Think guys are hot, and go out on dates with them?"

Leni nodded to the affirmative.

"Well, with bisexuals… with Luna… it means that she likes girls that way, too, not just guys."

"Oh…" Leni said, figuring it all out. "Ok! That's totes cool!"

Although Leni was the one Luna worried least about, she couldn't help but smile. Getting a positive response helped her nerves a lot.

"What, is that all?" Lola said again. "That's not a big deal… I thought this was gonna be some huge announcement!"

"Yeah!" Lana agreed.

"Now girls…" Rita said, though she was still confused by all this. "It's a big deal to Luna… And it was very hard for her to tell us that. We should be giving her support!"

"You mean…" Luna started speaking up. "N-none of you are… upset with me? Or… or mad?"

"Heavens no!" Lynn Sr. yelled out. "Why would we be mad about this? It's perfectly fine for you to be bi… or gay, or anything else! We love you no matter what!"

"And that goes for all of you!" Rita added on. "None of you ever have to be afraid of telling us anything like this."

Rita got back up off the couch, this time pulling Lynnard with her. Together, they walked over to Luna, and pulled her in for a hug.

"I can't say I'm not surprised, Luna..." Rita said. "But your father and I certainly aren't upset! We're proud of you, and that won't change."

Luna couldn't help but smile, hugging both of her parents.

"Th-thanks, guys…"

That wasn't it, though. Eventually, all of her siblings came over and joined the group hug. Even Lily managed to find her way down off the couch and waddle over, grabbing onto her mother's leg.

It was suffocating and cramped, sure, but Luna could stay like this forever. Nothing ever quite lifted her spirits like a family hug, as rare as they could sometimes be.

However, she had one more thing she had to do.

"Ok, time-out!" Luna yelled out. "I gotta go back upstairs for a second!"

Managing to squirm her way out, Luna went back upstairs. Her family all waited expectantly. The group who knew before all celebrated in their minds, happy for her.

After a moment, Luna practically ran back down, but she wasn't alone. Behind her, someone else was being dragged by their arm down with her. A teenage girl about Luna's age, with blonde hair (with a blue streak dyed in the bangs), a blue denim jacket with purple jeans and boots, and a The What shirt on underneath.

"Everyone… this is Sam." Luna said. Sam nervously waved at the big crowd. "She's my… Uhh… she's my…"

"Your girlfriend, I take it?" Rita asked. "It's lovely to meet you, Sam!"

Rita stepped forward and pulled Sam into a hug. Sam seemed confused for a second, but then returned the hug.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Loud." She said

"Oh, is that a What shirt you're wearing!?" Lynn Sr. said, focusing on that right away.

"My favorite band!" Sam replied with a smile.

"My little moon sure knows how to pick 'em, then!" he said as he took the young girl's hand, shaking it rather vigorously. "Great to meet you!"

As Sam was being disoriented by the handshake, Luna began blushing again.

"D-Dad! You haven't called me that since I was little!"

Lynnard looked to her and smiled.

"Well, what fun is meeting your girlfriend if I don't get to embarrass you a little?"

After Luna's parents backed off, she knew, Sam would have to deal with the REAL storm.

"Luna, could we talk to you some more in the kitchen? We can give your sisters and brother a chance to meet Sam." Rita said.

"A couple of them know her already, but alright." Luna replied, walking with them into the kitchen.

Sam watched her girlfriend leave, admitting in her mind to enjoying the view a little bit. But she snapped her head back when she saw Rita turning her head, and began to blush a little.

Her mind was taken off of it, though, when she saw the swarm that formed around her.

"Hi, I'm Lana! Do you like lizards!?"

Sam looked down at the adorable little girl before her, holding a little lizard of some kind and couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, lizards are totally-"

"No, Sam doesn't like lizards!" another little girl barged her way in. "Look how pretty she is, do you think she wastes time on reptiles and mud!?"

The little princess then turned to her, giving a smile that totally contradicts the behavior a second ago.

"My name's Lola! Do you like tea parties?"

Before Sam could answer, Lana came back in.

"No, she likes lizards!"

Both girls now got right in each other's faces.

"Tea parties!"

"Lizards!"

"Tea parties!"

Lori was prepared to pull Sam back from them, but the girl instead got down on her knees.

"Don't fight, dudes!" both girls turned to her. "How about one day, I have a tea party with Lola, and Lana can show me her lizards, too!"

The twins pondered for a moment, and then smiled back to her.

"Ok!"

Sam sat back up, happy to have satisfied them both. As she did, though, she suddenly found herself face-to-face with another girl.

"Oh! Hi there!"

"Oh my gosh!" the other girl, Luna's sister Leni, shouted out. "Your hair is, like, so beautiful! That blue TOTALLY works for you!"

"Thanks!" Sam said, always loving compliments to her fashion. She watched Leni circle around her, examining her clothes (or at least, Sam hoped it was her clothes that were the focus).

"Your outfit is totes adorbs too! If you ever, like, need a new one, though, I can hook you up! I make all kinds of stuff for the Fashion Club at school! You should, like, think about joining!"

"Hmm… I might think about it." Sam replied. "It's very nice to meet you, though, Leni. I never got a chance to say hi at school."

"It's nice to meet you too, Steph!"

"Actually, it's-"

Leni skipped away before Sam could correct her.

" _Nice girl,"_ Sam though, _"but a little dit-"_

"I just wrote a poem for you."

"GAHH!"

Sam jumped at the voice behind her. The little black-haired girl was standing there, holding a piece of paper. Lucy, Sam remembered after a second.

"Ahem…"

 _Sam_

 _Golden hair, streak of blue_

 _My sister's lover, you ask who?_

 _Sam_

"That's pretty good for having improvised so fast." Sam said with a smile.

"I'm glad you liked it. My brother helped me rhyme it, though."

The two looked over to Lincoln, who suddenly looked away and began to blush. Sam giggled. It was so cute how he had a crush on her.

"I liked the song you wrote with Luna about the plastic bag. Maybe the three of us could all work on something?"

"That sounds enjoyable." Lucy said, smiling despite her monotone voice.

From the kitchen, Sam could see Luna and her parents come back out. Luna immediately went up to Sam and gave her a hug.

"I missed you." She said.

"Heh, I missed you too." Sam replied, hugging her back.

"AWW!"

The couple began blushing when they saw the whole Loud family watching them. But they just turned back to each other.

"So, what were ya talking about in there?" Sam whispered.

"Just the boyfriend… Well, for me and Lincoln, girlfriend speech… What is and isn't allowed, curfews for dates, yadda yadda..."

Sam grinned. "We're totally gonna be breaking half of those rules, aren't we?"

"Absolutely!" Luna returned her own grin.

"Ok!"

They turned when they heard Luna's dad's voice, thinking he might've heard that.

"Since today's a special day, why don't we all go out to a nice dinner!?"

That, of course, got a cheer out of everybody, Luna and Sam included. Most of them stampeded out the door, with the couple following behind last.

"So, what do you think of my family?" Luna asked.

Sam pondered for a moment, and then smiled.

"They're so chaotic and unpredictable... I love it!"

Sam and Luna leaned in for another kiss. Sam thought about her wishes since a child to have a big, wild family.

Maybe that could come true after all.

* * *

 _ **I'm not particularly keen on the subject of coming out to one's family. But I based a little bit of the worries Luna was facing on the experiences of a few family members of mine who are gay. I hope I portrayed the issue as well as I could.**_

* * *

Luna looked at herself in the mirror. She always hated these kind of clothes, but for today, she was making a big exception. And she had to admit, she looked pretty rockin' in this big purple dress.

Behind her, her sister Luan stood. She looked different than she did back then, having a more feminine physique under her own yellow dress, and no longer having buck teeth or braces.

"What'cha thinkin' about?" she asked her older sister.

"Oh, nothing… Just when I first came out to everyone. All the sweet emotion I was feeling then… Kinda reminds me of today."

"Yeah, that day was _bi_ far one of the sweetest I can remember." Luan chuckled. Luna would normally groan about it, but she was in such a good mood, she joined her sister in a laugh.

"So… Ready to go? You don't wanna keep Dad waiting… And you especially don't wanna make HER wait!"

Luna turned back to the mirror. She thought long and hard about everything in her life since that day. A few downs, but lots of ups. Finally, she nodded and smiled.

"I've never been more ready, sis."

Grinning at her, Luan grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the small room they were in. Luan looked around for somebody, but couldn't find them. Instead, she focused on the younger girl she saw standing nearby.

"Hey, Ronnie Anne!" she yelled out. "Where's your cousin?"

Ronnie Anne Santiago, herself having grown up, rolled her eyes. Luna found it hard to believe she was the same age that Leni was back then... Especially since she was now taller than most of the Loud girls.

"She ran off to try and sexually harass one of your friends, Dave something-or-other. Why, what do you need?"

 _"Damn it, why now of all times for the planner to go AWOL!?"_

"We need to get things started! Our Dad needs to be ready, Lily needs to go with the flowers, and Mick needs to know when to start the song!"

Ronnie Anne listened intently, and the nodded.

"I can do all of that, shouldn't be too hard. I'll go get Lame-o to help me out!"

The girl ran off, and Luan turned to Luna.

"Don't worry, she knows what she's doing. It's just about showtime!"

Luna thought about everything as Luan guided her to her spot. She didn't even really notice Ronnie Anne run by and put a bouquet in her hand, or when Luan was gone and her Dad was there instead, arm looped with hers.

She just looked forward to this next big adventure.


	12. Lincoln

**Lincoln: All You Need Is Love**

* * *

"Aww man, that was so great!"

The whole Loud Family was just getting home. Lynn Jr., the athlete, charged into the home ahead of the rest, wearing a red football helmet and clutching a large golden cup trophy in her arms.

"Did you guys see that last play!? All tied up, Hockers are at the 5 yard line, they go for the touchdown… and then LYNN LOUD, PRIDE OF THE ROOSTERS, INTERCEPTS AND RUNS 47 YARDS FOR A TOUCHDOWN! WHOO!"

As Lynn cheered and danced in the living room, her sisters all came in, smiling and chattering.

"Great job, dude!"

"Even as a woman of science, I found myself astounded at that fantastic play!"

"That was, like, a PERFECT strike!"

They all crowded around Lynn, the older ones picking her up and the younger ones cheering. Lynn laughed and cheered with them as they took her to the dining room. Taking care not to hit or break anything, they placed her and the trophy down in front of a large cabinet.

Lynn looked at it at all of the shelves lined with trophies. Lola had pageant trophies, Lori had golf trophies, Luna and Luan had talent show trophies… And then she nested her eyes on her own, which was filled with golden statues of footballs, soccer balls, hockey sticks, and whatnot, to the point that they were pushing against the glass.

She felt silly now. She was going to put her trophy into the shelf, but it's the same size as her! No way would it fit!

Then, her parents walked in, wearing a ton of Royal Woods Roosters' merchandise.

"Oh, you can set it right next to the case for now, honey." Rita, the mother, said. "We might have to expand our storage area pretty soon."

Lynn nodded, setting the trophy down next to the case. She stepped back to admire it, proud of her work, and the fact that she got to take the main trophy home as MVP.

"Alright, folks!" Lynn Sr. shouted out, "You guys go ahead to your business. After dinner, we're having a triple chocolate cake to celebrate our superstar's big win at the finals!"

"YAAAAAY!" all the girls, Rita included, shouted out, before dispersing. Lynn Sr. went to the kitchen himself, prepared to work on a master dessert.

As they did, though, somebody else came into the room. A young boy with white hair, in an orange shirt. Unlike everybody else, he hung his head down as he walked in, frowning where the rest were smiling. He suddenly looked up, as if seeing somebody else in the room.

"Oh, hello. Guess I haven't talked to you guys in a while, huh?" he said, addressing an unseen group.

"I know what you're thinking... 'Lincoln, Lynn just won the finals for her team and was named MVP, how in the world can you be upset right now?' ...I really AM happy for her and everything, it's just that, seeing her with that big trophy, with her team and my family and even a bunch of total STRANGERS celebrating her, especially right after all of that jazz with the Yates family, it got me to thinking again..."

Lincoln walked over to the cabinet, filled with trophies, diplomas, badges, medals, so on and so forth.

"I've discussed this with you before, right? The trophy case for my family? All of my sisters have a nice big pile on their shelves. Mom and Dad even have some trophies of their own in their room. And then... there's me."

Lincoln pointed to one of the shelves in the cabinet. Unlike the rest, which barely held up the awards piled on top of them, Lincoln's just had one little trophy on it, reading "Most Improved Brother".

"When I got this at first, I really felt cheered up by it. But I've kind of began to feel that... it's just kind of a consolation prize. My sisters made it so I'd feel better about myself, but it didn't really CHANGE anything. All of them have these amazing talents... and what have I got?"

Lincoln continued, slowly walking away from the case and heading upstairs.

"My point is, my sisters all have these really bright futures ahead of them. Luna's caught Mick Swagger's eye as a potential superstar, Luan is the 9th most popular comedy MeTuber of all time, Lisa's already one of the country's best geniuses... Heck, even Leni's an aspiring fashion designer!"

"Me... I read comics in my underwear and play video games... and not good enough to be in one of those million-dollar Swords and Cyborgs teams at SCGC or anything like that. "

Lincoln reached the top of the stairs, turning to his right to go into his bedroom.

"Maybe I'm just being too negative, but when a BABY has more talent than you, it's hard to not feel a little bummed out, y'know? ...I might talk a bit more later, but for now I'm just gonna do what I do best... nothing..."

Lincoln sighed as he walked into his bedroom and closed the door. He didn't notice the figure standing at the top of the stairs, frowning as they watched him.

* * *

 _ **The next day...**_

* * *

Saturday went about as you'd expect it to go. With no school to occupy the Loud kids, they simply ran amok in their home for the entirety of the morning and afternoon.

Lincoln, in a rare turn of events for the weekend, found the TV free to use. So he sat down on the couch and flipped through the DVR, eventually loading up an anime he recorded previously. Watching an action-packed show helped take his mind off things.

He managed to watch most of the first episode in relative peace and quiet, since the chaos was mostly focused upstairs. But eventually, he felt somebody sit next to him on the couch.

"Hey, son." Lincoln heard his father's voice. He turned to see his dad sitting there, looking at him. He almost seemed worried.

"Hi Dad." He replied. Lynn Sr. could tell he didn't have his usual enthusiasm.

"So, uh… what'cha watching?" Lynn Sr. studied the screen carefully, seeing some animated people in weird outfits fighting monsters.

"Guardian Project. It's a superhero show…" Lincoln replied flatly. Dad thought it was weird… usually Lincoln could ramble for hours about one of his 'annie-mays'.

Staying silent for a moment, Lynn Sr. watched the show with Lincoln, letting his thoughts gather.

"You know, this reminds of this show I used to watch as a kid. These really cool tiger robots would fight aliens and stuff, but they could combine into this one big robot with a sword to fight the big stuff! BALTRON, DEFENDER OF THE COSMOS!" he shouted out dramatically, standing up on the couch and making a superhero pose.

"Cool…" Lincoln said half-heartedly, not even looking his way.

" _Aw geez, this is serious…"_ Lynn thought to himself, frowning and slumping back down onto the couch.

"Look, son… Are you… feeling ok? You just seem kinda down… it ain't like you."

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"You sure?" Lynn asked again. "If something's bothering you, you know, you can always talk to me and your mom. You can tell us about anything."

Lincoln didn't answer right away. His eyes pointed down, and he seemed to be thinking about it. Eventually, though, his eyes raised back up and focused on the television.

"Thanks, Dad, but I'm fine. Really..." he answered.

After 18 years of parenting, Lynn knew that lie when he heard it. He got used to hearing it after break-ups, getting bullied, losing talent shows... He wanted to press the issue, try to make his boy tell him the truth so he could magically fix it with his Dad-powers or something. But that would probably just make Lincoln hide deeper into his shell.

"Ok." he said, standing up from the seat. "I'll let you get back to your show. But if something DOES come up, you remember what I just said, alright?"

"Alright."

Sighing in defeat, Lincoln's dad walked out of the room and into the kitchen. There, he saw his wife standing at the sink, sharing his worried look.

"I take it he didn't open up to you, huh?" she asked.

"Nope. It was about as successful as trying to talk to Lucy about puppies or something... You were right, though, he's definitely bummed out..."

"I wonder what we can do for him..."

"I don't know... Maybe we could tr-Wait a second..."

Lynn Sr. was interrupted when he heard Lincoln talking in the living room. He motioned for Rita to follow him as he went into the dining room and peeked to the living room couch, where Lincoln was now standing and facing a wall.

"...I know he meant well, but I just don't think he or Mom could really help me feel better. Dad's a national-level jigsaw puzzle solver, he wouldn't understand how I feel... and I wouldn't want to bother him with it."

After talking, Lincoln turned towards his parents, causing them to move back behind the wall. He didn't seem to notice them, as they eventually heard his footsteps going up the stairs behind them. They both sighed in relief.

"We really need to find a way to help him." Rita said. "I don't want him feeling like he's any less special than the girls. And I especially don't want him to think any of us feel that way..."

"Can we help?"

The two parents jumped as they saw Lucy walk in from the kitchen. Behind her came the other girls, with Lily being held by Lori.

"G-g-girls!" Lynn Sr. said, "You... you know about this, too?"

"We literally heard it all yesterday. Lincoln isn't as quiet as he thinks." Lori replied. "We left him alone today so we could meet up and think of how to help him..."

"I didn't mean to make him feel bad..." Lynn said sadly, looking over at her trophy with disappointment. Rita walked over and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"No, sweetie, it's not your fault. Lincoln doesn't blame you for how he feels either..."

"But how do we help him?" asked Luna, "I know how the dude feels, but I'm not sure if a pep-talk from me would do any good."

Everyone was silent for a moment. But then one voice shouted out.

"I have an idea!"

* * *

 _ **Sunday...**_

* * *

Lincoln could tell he woke up fairly late, judging by the silence outside of his room. Usually mornings were one of the loudest points in the day, when the girls would have to wait for the bathroom and a couple small arguments would undoubtedly break out.

 _"10:43..."_ Lincoln thought, looking at his alarm clock. Still morning time, but later than he usually got up. Hopping out of bed, he opted not to change out of his PJs right away. He just didn't feel like it.

He went to open his door, but as he did, he heard chattering on the other side.

 _"Guys, guys, he's up!"_ he swore he heard Lola trying to whisper.

 _"How do you know?"_ Lana.

 _"Footsteps, dummy!"_

Eventually he heard a bunch of clattering like a stampede of bulls trying their best to tip-toe through a china shop. What could the girls want with him?

Taking a deep breath, Lincoln opened the door, and saw 10 smiling faces waiting for him.

"Hey, bro! How you feelin'?" Luna asked.

"Umm... fine, I guess?" Lincoln replied. "What's... going on?"

"We're having another family meeting. We need you to come downstairs with us!" Lana said.

A family meeting? They just had one Thursday night about Lucy's bats making a mess everywhere. What could we need another for so soon?

"Sorry guys... I think I'll skip this one. Lisa can read me the minutes later..." Lincoln said, moving to shut his door.

However, he found the door blocked, and looked down to see Lori's foot in the way.

"Sorry, Lincoln. But we weren't ASKING you to come with us..."

Lincoln looked up at his sisters. None of them looked angry or hostile, so he didn't think he was in trouble. He could probably trick Lori out of the way so he could slam and lock his door, but he knew how that would escalate things. And he just didn't feel like fighting off his sisters today.

"Ok... I guess I can go, just let me get dressed."

Smiling again, Lori pulled her foot out of the way. She could tell he wasn't lying so he could hole himself up. He knew what kind of trouble that could get him into.

"Alright, ladies, everyone downstairs!" Lincoln heard her yell to the rest as he shut the door. He quickly pulled off his pajamas and slipped on his everyday clothes, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

Eventually, he made his way downstairs.

"Over here, Linc!" Lynn shouted from the living room. Lincoln looked over to see his sisters and parents all sitting in the room, turning to look at him.

"Umm... hi." He said, walking into the room. Luan and Rita, the former holding a closed laptop, both moved over on the couch, giving him space right in the middle.

"So... what's this meeting about? Did Fangs ruin another meal or something?"

"No, son, nothing like that!" Lynn Sr. replied. "We were actually just wondering if you saw Luan's newest video?"

Lincoln looked confused. He was subscribed to Luan's channel, but they couldn't have expected him to see a video from her today if he just woke up!

"I haven't seen a new video... is that all the meeting's about?" he asked, wondering if he would be excused now.

"Yeah, I suppose so... We were going to watch it together, if that's alright."

"Ready to pull the video up, honey?" Rita asked, looking past Lincoln to Luan.

"Actually, I haven't uploaded it yet." she replied as she opened her laptop. "First, I had to honor my code... Linc, do I have your permission to upload footage of you onto my channel?"

 _"Just another comedy video? Probably showing the world how much of a loser I am or something... Not that I'm not used to it by now..."_

"Sure, go ahead." Lincoln answered with a shrug.

With a smile, Luan began typing on her laptop for a second.

"There, all uploaded! Now let me just..." Luan typed a bit more, and as she did, somebody turned on the TV. Instead of a TV show or anything, Luan's face was on it.

"There, now we can watch the video on the TV! You ready, Lincoln?"

 _"This is probably some humiliation video, isn't it?"_ Lincoln thought to himself. But he just nodded, letting Luan hit play.

* * *

 _"Hi guys! Luan Out Loud here..."_ the Luan in the video began talking. _"Normally, I'd have something funny for you, but today I need to post something serious..."_

A picture of a smiling Lincoln in a long-sleeved orange shirt and khakis came up on the screen. Lincoln recognized it from his "first date" with Ronnie Anne.

 _"This is my brother Lincoln, as some of you already know. This is favorite picture of him, actually."_ Video-Luan continued, although her smile turned into a frown. _"Lately, my brother's been a little bummed out. He thinks that he's not special or talented..."_

Lincoln froze up. How did Luan know? He looked nervously around the room. The looks he got from everybody else... they ALL knew! He wanted to speak up, but the video kept going.

 _"Well, I think that's absolutely crazy, and NOT in a good way! So, my family and I wanted to show him, and the whole world, just how great he really is! Take it away, Luna!"_

In the background of the video, Luna appeared with her acoustic guitar. She began to play a gentle song as the video changed. It showed a night vision camera recording Lincoln standing in the dark, with the twins hugging eachother and crying.

 _"Come here, you two. It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of."_ Video-Lincoln said as Lola and Lana ran up and hugged him. _"Your big brother will protect you. In fact...I will protect all of you!"_

It then cut to Lola and Lana sitting together in Luan's beanbag chair. At the bottom of the screen, it said their names, ages, and that they are Lincoln's sisters.

 _"Lincoln is really nice! Sometimes we make him mad, or he makes us mad, but we always make up!"_ Video-Lana said.

Video-Lola nodded. _"Sometimes he's selfish and rude... But he's still a good brother! Even if I'm sometimes not nice to him, I can still count on him."_

 _"If Lincoln were to enter a contest, what do you think he could win?"_ Luan's voice said from off-camera. The twins looked at each other for a moment.

 _"World's Bravest Brother!"_ they both said in unison.

Lincoln kept watching, not sure what to think, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw the twins, holding a small trophy.

"What's this?" he asked, taking it from them. On the side, it had "World's Bravest Brother" engraved on it.

Before he could say anything or show another reaction, the girls both hugged him close before running back to their spots. The video went on before he could speak up.

 _"Remember what we practiced, Leni!"_

The scene now showed Lincoln in his backyard, cheering Leni on while she drove a lawnmower around. Then, it changed to Leni sitting in the beanbag chair, facing to the right. Luan's arms came on screen, gently moving Leni's head so she was facing the camera.

 _"Linky is, like, really nice!"_ Video-Leni said with a big grin. _"I know I'm not, like, smart or anything, but he doesn't treat me any different!"_

Lincoln couldn't help but smile. The video fast-forwarded a bit, with Leni looking confused through most of it and talking with somebody off-screen, but eventually it went back to normal.

 _"Oh, ok, I totally get it now!"_ she said. _"I would call Linky 'World's Nicest Brother!'"_

At the same time, Lincoln saw Leni stand up, bringing him over another gold trophy. As he expected, it had "World's Nicest Brother" on it. She smiled before going back to her seat.

The video continued, now showing a chaotic scene in Lucy and Lynn's bedroom. The two girls, along with Lincoln, were throwing what appeared to be spaghetti and meatballs at eachother, all while laughing. After a moment, it cut to Lynn leaning back on the beanbag chair, with Lucy standing in the shadows behind her.

 _"Linc's pretty cool. I know I get on his nerves a lot, but I hope he knows I always got his back. I know he's got mine."_ Video-Lynn said.

 _"Lincoln is one of the brightest lights in the darkness I envelop myself in."_ Video-Lucy added, as a clip of her reading a poem to Lincoln about himself played. _"I am proud to call him my brother."_

Lincoln found himself holding two more trophies, "World's Toughest Brother" and "World's Most Poetic Brother". He didn't see how either of them got onto his lap so fast without him noticing.

As the video continued, each of Lincoln's sisters got a chance to speak.

 _"Lincoln's one of the nicest dudes around, and I'm really lucky to have him as a brother. Don't stop believin', bro!"_ Luna said as it showed her and Lincoln on stage at a SMOOCH concert. Lincoln now had a "World's Most Rockin' Bro" trophy.

 _"Yeah, he's kind of a dork."_ Lori spoke over a clip of the two playing a video game together. _"But he's OUR dork. MY dork. And I wouldn't change him at all."_ Lincoln got a kiss on the forehead and a "World's Coolest Brother" trophy from her.

A clip of Lisa and Lincoln in a snowball fight played.

 _"Although I admit to not socializing with my siblings very much and being overly blunt with them, I often find Lincoln to be pleasant company."_ Video-Lisa spoke. _"I admit that I often insult my siblings' intelligence, but in my brother I have always seen great potential, and it is a pleasure to see him meet said potential."_

Lisa presented Lincoln with a "World's Most Intelligent Brother" trophy, and although it was fairly stiff due to inexperience, he happily gave her brother a hug.

 _"Poo-poo!"_ Lincoln's attention went back to the screen, where he saw Lily chewing on the chair.

 _"Lily, no! You could choke on that!"_ Video-Luan yelled out, grabbing her before she could make any tears. She sat down on the beanbag chair, holding Lily on her lap.

 _"Ok, well, I can't really interview Lily, but she still loves you, Linc! Don't you Lily? Do you love Lincoln?"_

 _"Ee...Een-con?"_ Video-Lily tried to say, looking around the room. _"Een-con! Een-con!"_

 _"Well, I guess I'll take my turn, then."_ Video-Luan said, setting Lily down on the floor.

 _"Lincoln, I'm not going to say any jokes or puns here. I want you to KNOW that I'm 100% serious. You're a great guy. Not many 11 year old boys can say that they not only tolerate living in a family like ours, but that they manage to stay sane and always make time for each member of their family. To us, it doesn't matter how many trophies you have, or anything like that..."_

 _"That's why, when I asked MYSELF to pick one category to describe you, I couldn't do it. You're nice, you're smart, you're caring... Even if sometimes we treat you like crap, or you do something that makes us upset with you, we always love you. Because you're the world's BEST brother. That's what MY answer is. And the other girls agree with me, too."_

 _"We love you, Lincoln."_

* * *

At this point, Lincoln was pretty much on the verge of tears. He felt a tapping on his shoulder, and looked over to Luan. He figured, at this point, he was going to receive another trophy. But she was empty-handed.

"Come on, Linc. I got something to show ya!" she said, jumping up and walking into the dining room. Everybody else got up to follow, with somebody pausing the video behind them. Lincoln himself had to wait, taking all the trophies he'd collected and putting them aside before following.

In the dining room was a surprising sight.

Next to Lynn's large football trophy sat one that was even larger. On the side, it had "World's Best Brother" engraved.

"Guys... You didn't have to do all this..." Lincoln said.

"We WANTED to, dude." Luna said. "We don't want you to think that you aren't special... "

"You're one of the most special people in the world to us, sweetie." Rita added on. Lynn Sr. walked forward with a piece of paper.

"We, uhh, kinda ran out of trophies. But here's the last one." he said as he handed the paper to Lincoln.

It was a certificate that said "World's Best Son" on it.

Smiling, Lincoln grabbed onto his parents legs, hugging them close.

"Thanks, everyone... I feel better now." Lincoln said. "Even if I'm not the most talented one here, I'm certainly the luckiest. Not very many people can say they have the world's best family."

Suddenly, Lincoln found himself getting lifted off his feet. The older girls all held him over their heads, chanting his name. Lincoln couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, uhh... thanks for throwing that all together, Luan." Lincoln said over the cheering.

Luan shook her head. "I organized the whole thing for a video, but it wasn't my idea, actually."

Lincoln looked confused, but then Luan pointed behind her. There stood Lola, shyly smiling up at him.

"This was your idea, Lola?" he asked.

"Just the part with the trophies." she said. "Luan's the one that did everything else. We just wanted to make you feel happy again!"

Lincoln smiled, pulling both girls close and hugging them.

"Now, son, if you're feeling better, I got something we can spend the afternoon on..."

Lynn Sr. pulled out a large, colorful DVD case.

"BALTRON, THE COMPLETE SERIES! WHOOO!" he began making a bunch of goofy sound effects with his mouth. Lincoln was confused at first, but started laughing.

"I'll be there in a minute, Dad!" he said as his father "flew" to the couch like an airplane. Although the show wasn't what any of his sisters would be into, some of them joined in. Lincoln, meanwhile, walked into the kitchen.

"In a family with 11 kids, sometimes it's really hard to stick out." he began talking. "But maybe sticking out isn't really necessary, you know? Maybe I'm perfectly fine right where I am, in the middle of a family that I love, and who loves me right back..."

"You'll have to excuse me, though. Time for robot tigers! WHOO, BALTON!" Lincoln yelled out as he "flew" into the living room.

* * *

 _ **Lincoln was a tricky one. Partly because I think he's the most realistic character in the show, or in any modern cartoon for a good while. And partly because I kind of see myself in the guy. I know how it feels to be the "black sheep" of a family. But even so, I'm perfectly happy being the black sheep of a really great family, and I think he'd say the same.**_

* * *

"FORM BALTRON!" Lynn Sr., Lincoln, and a handful of Loud girls yelled out from the living room, where an anime action montage was playing on the screen.

"Please be a little quieter for a moment, you guys!" Rita yelled back from the dining room. "I'm on the phone."

After getting a barrage of "Sorry, Mom!/Honey!" from the living room, she went back to her conversation.

"Sorry, Dr. Lipschitz... Yes, all of my kids are doing very well..."

"I was actually just calling to thank you for Lincoln. That 'imaginary audience' trick you taught him is really helping him AND us..."

"Yes... He even taught it to his girlfriend, when she needed some help coping with a big family... Yeah, I'm surprised he's already gotten a girlfriend, too!"

"He IS a very bright young boy, isn't he? I'm very proud of him..."


End file.
